The Wake

Communication in the U.S. today is a problem. Groups of people have trouble communicating with other groups that they work with. One student group is changing that. “Through this group, students learn to break down preconceived notions of other professions and can even become friends,” says Tracy Hanson, student president of CLARION.

The student group CLARION was formed in 2002 by two students who wanted a way for medical students and students in public health, pharmacy and nursing to connect. They believed that if students from different fields could find a way to come together, it would make it easier for them to work together after graduation. “Often times when the students enter the real world, they have a hard time communicating with each other, Hanson says.”.

The group is located in the Center for Health Interprofessional Programs Student Center. CLARION’s board consists of sixteen students and faculty advisors who represent the fields of health administration, public health, nursing, medicine and pharmacy. While nearing the end of her term as student president of CLARION’s board, Hanson had a few goals for the group that she has worked on during the past academic year. The main goal was to continue to raise funds for the group. Since government funding has decreased over the past years, they have needed to focus more on obtaining their money through fundraising and private sources. Last year, they were able to raise $50,000, but it has been a struggle to raise that much this year, Hanson says.

She requested to have $11,954.50 for CLARION from the student services fee committee to be used strictly for University events and not the National Case Competition. They only received $494 from the committee, well short of their request. “We went to the student services committee to request a more stable source of funding, but were denied.” Hanson says.

Hanson states that mistakes regarding patient care can lead to wrong site surgery, suicide, op/post-op complication, medication error or a delay in treatment because of the lack of communication between the different sides of health care. This creates blaming and finger pointing between the groups that could lead to more mistakes. According to a report released by the Institute of Medicine in 1999, as many as 98,000 people in America might die each year due to medical errors. This report has created a lot of national attention on the care of patients in hospitals and clinics across the country.

“It’s really important to realize that although we might be on different sides, we have the same ultimate goal: to treat and care for patients.” Hanson says. The reason that these different groups of professionals do not communicate is because they have been taught to be separate from each other and also because the current culture of healthcare operates in silos; each profession has their own way of doing things, their own way of thinking.

One way that CLARION tries to correct this problem is by having the Case Competition event. The Case Competition is an event where participants have a chance to solve real-life problems regarding patient safety and quality control within the healthcare system. Each team is composed of students from each of the health care fields and is presented with a problem that has been assigned by the faculty advisors. The competition consists of various cases that have a common theme in patient care and the groups are asked to come up with a solution and present it to a group of judges. These problems are based on real life situations. It gives the students exposure to real life experiences, helps strengthen problem-solving skills and creates a communication link. This year’s local Case Competition is in March, and the U hosted the national competition in April with teams from across the country competing.

Last year, Hanson not only participated but won the local competition and was able to move on to the national competitionShe worked on a team with a pharmacy student, a medical student and a nursing student. Participating in the competition is a lot of work, but depends on whether you are in it to win or just looking for the experience, Hanson says. Besides their classes and studies, they spent an average of 10 hours a week working on their presentation. This year’s case involves confusion at a fictitious hospital regarding the care plan of a recurring patient with alcohol problems. Each team had to come up with an action plan on how to best deal with the situation and how to deal with future situations. The experience of being in the Case Competition and being on the executive board of directors has allowed Hanson to see how appreciative people are of what the group does.

“It’s important to become knowledgeable of current problems and know how to solve them.” Hanson says.