A comparison of teamwork attitude changes with virtual TeamSTEPPS^® simulations in health professional students

Educators need accessible learner-centered tools to prepare health professional learners for safe interprofessional practice. TeamSTEPPS^® is an evidence-based teamwork training program. Virtual TeamSTEPPS^® scenarios were developed to overcome some of the barriers to interprofessional learning, including space and scheduling. However, teamwork attitudes may vary at baseline among health professional students and in response to virtual teamwork training. Three 5-min virtual TeamSTEPPS^® scenarios were used by health professional students in the nursing, occupational therapy and physician assistant programs at two Midwestern universities. The scenarios required learners to use or identify teamwork strategies as part of an interprofessional team. The assessment and evaluation compared teamwork attitudes at baseline, and following use of teamwork training scenarios, using a validated tool, the TeamSTEPPS^® Teamwork Attitudes Questionnaire. Of 319 learners with matched pre-post teamwork attitude scores, 57.4% were from the Nursing program, female (85.5%) and aged 18–24 years (78.1%). There were no differences in pre-intervention teamwork attitudes except Mutual Support (p < 0.05). Post-intervention teamwork attitudes increased significantly (p < 0.001), but varied by group in the domains of Leadership, Team Structure and Mutual Support (p < 0.05). These findings may have implications for the development and evaluation of interprofessional curricula.