Michelle Parker-Tomlin | Griffith University (original) (raw)

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Papers by Michelle Parker-Tomlin

Australian Journal of Primary Health

Background This qualitative study explored staff experiences of co-designing and implementing a n... more Background This qualitative study explored staff experiences of co-designing and implementing a novel interprofessional (IP) First Nations child health assessment (the helpful check), developed in partnership with a remote North-Queensland Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation. Method Eleven staff across two teams (family health and allied health) were involved in co-designing and implementing the child health assessment and associated IP practices. Interviews were undertaken using a semi-structured interview template and were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results Three overarching themes were developed: (1) connect teams by building strong relationships; (2) leave space for helpful check processes to evolve; and (3) integrate helpful check processes into routine practice to sustain change. Conclusions Results demonstrate how the incorporation of IP practices into a remote primary healthcare setting led to perceive...

Objective: Interprofessional collaborative practice skills and the ability to make effective clin... more Objective: Interprofessional collaborative practice skills and the ability to make effective clinical decisions are among the most important skills required for practising health professionals, and are an important focus of health discipline students' training. Individual differences can affect decision making style (e.g., Appelt, Milch, Handgraaf & Weber, 2011; Hewes, 2009; Phillips, Fletcher, Marks, & Hine, 2016; Shaban, 2005), and cognitive processes that use decision making heuristics are prone to biases by both expert and novice clinicians (Bradley, 2005). Therefore, errors and biases could affect the successful interprofessional functioning of healthcare teams. Understanding individual health practitioners' and students' natural cognitive processing style, decision making style, and factors that influence these, could be key to researching methods of enhancing clinical decision making (CDM). Considerable evidence supports the positive benefits of healthcare practit...

Professional and Practice-based Learning, 2019

This chapter describes the development and implementation of an assessment task undertaken by hea... more This chapter describes the development and implementation of an assessment task undertaken by health professional students during and after routine clinical placements, with the aim of consolidating a programme of interprofessional learning. It argues that the capabilities required by health graduates for effective collaborative practice between multiple health professions after graduation are complex and span the three domains of learning first postulated by Bloom and colleagues in 1956: cognitive, psychomotor and affective. It also posits that the acquisition of these capabilities during the preregistration training of health professionals requires a planned, coordinated and scaffolded programme of interprofessional learning activities. The evaluation of the activity demonstrates that the routine clinical placements undertaken by health professional students in interprofessional practice settings provide an opportunity to consolidate that learning, towards the end of each student’s programme, through utilisation of the assessment task. The task places the candidate into a critical posture in relation to the practice of an interprofessional team that they have had the opportunity to observe during routine clinical placements. Finally, the chapter considers this assessment activity as a particular type of post-practicum experience with the potential to augment specific kinds of learnings that may be acquired in the clinical environment.

Journal of interprofessional care, Jan 7, 2017

Effective clinical decision making is among the most important skills required by healthcare prac... more Effective clinical decision making is among the most important skills required by healthcare practitioners. Making sound decisions while working collaboratively in interprofessional healthcare teams is essential for modern healthcare planning, successful interventions, and patient care. The cognitive continuum theory (CCT) is a model of human judgement and decision making aimed at orienting decision-making processes. CCT has the potential to improve both individual health practitioner, and interprofessional team understanding about, and communication of, clinical decision-making processes. Examination of the current application of CCT indicates that this theory could strengthen interprofessional team clinical decision making (CDM). However, further research is needed before extending the use of this theoretical framework to a wider range of interprofessional healthcare team processes. Implications for research, education, practice, and policy are addressed.

Journal of Behavioral Education, 2012

Journal of Interprofessional Care

Digital Interprofessional Learning Client Documentation (D-IPL Client Docs) is an initiative desi... more Digital Interprofessional Learning Client Documentation (D-IPL Client Docs) is an initiative designed to develop student interprofessional communication skills through electronic record writing and a virtual simulation (VS) or live virtual simulation (LVS) case conference. The aims of the study were to (a) identify whether D-IPL Client Docs supports student learning in the affective domain and (b) compare the learning outcomes for students participating in the VS versus the LVS case conference. Data were drawn from 83 Bachelor of Social Work students who had participated with other health professional students in the D-IPL Client Docs activities. The reflective journals submitted by this cohort of social work students were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively using the Griffith University Affective Learning Scale. Qualitative analyses revealed that the activities enabled students in both groups to learn about themselves, their roles, and the roles of others, and the benefits of interprofessional collaboration in optimizing client outcomes. Quantitatively, the VS mode appeared to be more effective in supporting students to develop higher order affective learning; however, the effect size was small. Future studies should involve a larger sample size and include students from various professions to ascertain the transferability of findings.

Journal of Interprofessional Care

Journal of interprofessional care, 2018

ABSTRACT Successful interventions, healthcare planning, and patient-centered care require explana... more ABSTRACT
Successful interventions, healthcare planning, and patient-centered care require explanation, justification, and
collaboration through interprofessional clinical decision-making (CDM). Understanding health practitioners’
decision-making styles and influencing factors can enhance CDM capabilities. Health professionals and
students (N = 229) completed an online survey on their decision-making styles, interprofessional education,
interprofessional practice, discipline education, clinical experience, processing styles, personality, interpersonal
motivational factors, and age. To assess the influence of task structure, participants answered CDM questions
on a high- and a low-structured case study. Age demonstrated an effect on the level of clinical experience,
while clinical experience alsomediated the effect of age on rational processing styles.While personality results
were mixed, consistent with previous findings, conscientiousness predicted rational processing style. Effects of
interpersonal motivation on personality were also mixed, insofar as results indicated an association between
conscientiousness and both experiential and rational processing styles. Interpersonalmotivation also predicted
rational processing styles. The complexity of CDM and factors influencing healthcare practitioners’ processing
and decision-making styles was highlighted. To optimize CDM processes by addressing errors and biases, CDM,
and practice complexity, healthcare practitioner education should include theory-driven CDM orientation
frameworks.

ABSTRACT Effective clinical decision making is among the most important skills required by health... more ABSTRACT
Effective clinical decision making is among the most important skills required by healthcare practitioners.
Making sound decisions while working collaboratively in interprofessional healthcare teams is
essential for modern healthcare planning, successful interventions, and patient care. The cognitive
continuum theory (CCT) is a model of human judgement and decision making aimed at orienting
decision-making processes. CCT has the potential to improve both individual health practitioner, and
interprofessional team understanding about, and communication of, clinical decision-making processes.
Examination of the current application of CCT indicates that this theory could strengthen interprofessional
team clinical decision making (CDM). However, further research is needed before extending the
use of this theoretical framework to a wider range of interprofessional healthcare team processes.
Implications for research, education, practice, and policy are addressed.

Australian Journal of Primary Health

Background This qualitative study explored staff experiences of co-designing and implementing a n... more Background This qualitative study explored staff experiences of co-designing and implementing a novel interprofessional (IP) First Nations child health assessment (the helpful check), developed in partnership with a remote North-Queensland Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation. Method Eleven staff across two teams (family health and allied health) were involved in co-designing and implementing the child health assessment and associated IP practices. Interviews were undertaken using a semi-structured interview template and were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results Three overarching themes were developed: (1) connect teams by building strong relationships; (2) leave space for helpful check processes to evolve; and (3) integrate helpful check processes into routine practice to sustain change. Conclusions Results demonstrate how the incorporation of IP practices into a remote primary healthcare setting led to perceive...

Objective: Interprofessional collaborative practice skills and the ability to make effective clin... more Objective: Interprofessional collaborative practice skills and the ability to make effective clinical decisions are among the most important skills required for practising health professionals, and are an important focus of health discipline students' training. Individual differences can affect decision making style (e.g., Appelt, Milch, Handgraaf & Weber, 2011; Hewes, 2009; Phillips, Fletcher, Marks, & Hine, 2016; Shaban, 2005), and cognitive processes that use decision making heuristics are prone to biases by both expert and novice clinicians (Bradley, 2005). Therefore, errors and biases could affect the successful interprofessional functioning of healthcare teams. Understanding individual health practitioners' and students' natural cognitive processing style, decision making style, and factors that influence these, could be key to researching methods of enhancing clinical decision making (CDM). Considerable evidence supports the positive benefits of healthcare practit...

Professional and Practice-based Learning, 2019

This chapter describes the development and implementation of an assessment task undertaken by hea... more This chapter describes the development and implementation of an assessment task undertaken by health professional students during and after routine clinical placements, with the aim of consolidating a programme of interprofessional learning. It argues that the capabilities required by health graduates for effective collaborative practice between multiple health professions after graduation are complex and span the three domains of learning first postulated by Bloom and colleagues in 1956: cognitive, psychomotor and affective. It also posits that the acquisition of these capabilities during the preregistration training of health professionals requires a planned, coordinated and scaffolded programme of interprofessional learning activities. The evaluation of the activity demonstrates that the routine clinical placements undertaken by health professional students in interprofessional practice settings provide an opportunity to consolidate that learning, towards the end of each student’s programme, through utilisation of the assessment task. The task places the candidate into a critical posture in relation to the practice of an interprofessional team that they have had the opportunity to observe during routine clinical placements. Finally, the chapter considers this assessment activity as a particular type of post-practicum experience with the potential to augment specific kinds of learnings that may be acquired in the clinical environment.

Journal of interprofessional care, Jan 7, 2017

Effective clinical decision making is among the most important skills required by healthcare prac... more Effective clinical decision making is among the most important skills required by healthcare practitioners. Making sound decisions while working collaboratively in interprofessional healthcare teams is essential for modern healthcare planning, successful interventions, and patient care. The cognitive continuum theory (CCT) is a model of human judgement and decision making aimed at orienting decision-making processes. CCT has the potential to improve both individual health practitioner, and interprofessional team understanding about, and communication of, clinical decision-making processes. Examination of the current application of CCT indicates that this theory could strengthen interprofessional team clinical decision making (CDM). However, further research is needed before extending the use of this theoretical framework to a wider range of interprofessional healthcare team processes. Implications for research, education, practice, and policy are addressed.

Journal of Behavioral Education, 2012

Journal of Interprofessional Care

Digital Interprofessional Learning Client Documentation (D-IPL Client Docs) is an initiative desi... more Digital Interprofessional Learning Client Documentation (D-IPL Client Docs) is an initiative designed to develop student interprofessional communication skills through electronic record writing and a virtual simulation (VS) or live virtual simulation (LVS) case conference. The aims of the study were to (a) identify whether D-IPL Client Docs supports student learning in the affective domain and (b) compare the learning outcomes for students participating in the VS versus the LVS case conference. Data were drawn from 83 Bachelor of Social Work students who had participated with other health professional students in the D-IPL Client Docs activities. The reflective journals submitted by this cohort of social work students were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively using the Griffith University Affective Learning Scale. Qualitative analyses revealed that the activities enabled students in both groups to learn about themselves, their roles, and the roles of others, and the benefits of interprofessional collaboration in optimizing client outcomes. Quantitatively, the VS mode appeared to be more effective in supporting students to develop higher order affective learning; however, the effect size was small. Future studies should involve a larger sample size and include students from various professions to ascertain the transferability of findings.

Journal of Interprofessional Care

Journal of interprofessional care, 2018

ABSTRACT Successful interventions, healthcare planning, and patient-centered care require explana... more ABSTRACT
Successful interventions, healthcare planning, and patient-centered care require explanation, justification, and
collaboration through interprofessional clinical decision-making (CDM). Understanding health practitioners’
decision-making styles and influencing factors can enhance CDM capabilities. Health professionals and
students (N = 229) completed an online survey on their decision-making styles, interprofessional education,
interprofessional practice, discipline education, clinical experience, processing styles, personality, interpersonal
motivational factors, and age. To assess the influence of task structure, participants answered CDM questions
on a high- and a low-structured case study. Age demonstrated an effect on the level of clinical experience,
while clinical experience alsomediated the effect of age on rational processing styles.While personality results
were mixed, consistent with previous findings, conscientiousness predicted rational processing style. Effects of
interpersonal motivation on personality were also mixed, insofar as results indicated an association between
conscientiousness and both experiential and rational processing styles. Interpersonalmotivation also predicted
rational processing styles. The complexity of CDM and factors influencing healthcare practitioners’ processing
and decision-making styles was highlighted. To optimize CDM processes by addressing errors and biases, CDM,
and practice complexity, healthcare practitioner education should include theory-driven CDM orientation
frameworks.

ABSTRACT Effective clinical decision making is among the most important skills required by health... more ABSTRACT
Effective clinical decision making is among the most important skills required by healthcare practitioners.
Making sound decisions while working collaboratively in interprofessional healthcare teams is
essential for modern healthcare planning, successful interventions, and patient care. The cognitive
continuum theory (CCT) is a model of human judgement and decision making aimed at orienting
decision-making processes. CCT has the potential to improve both individual health practitioner, and
interprofessional team understanding about, and communication of, clinical decision-making processes.
Examination of the current application of CCT indicates that this theory could strengthen interprofessional
team clinical decision making (CDM). However, further research is needed before extending the
use of this theoretical framework to a wider range of interprofessional healthcare team processes.
Implications for research, education, practice, and policy are addressed.