Creating Opportunities for Collaboration in PFNs

* NOTE: In 2023, PFN events were renamed as “Real People, Real Experiences”

Do you have a patient on your team? In a PFN Event you will!

What is a “PFN”?

“PFN” is the acronym for “Patient and Family Narrative”. In a PFN Event, a community member shares their healthcare experience in a 12-to-15-minute video. PFN Event participants watch this video and then meet in small interprofessional teams to complete shared tasks and practice their team skills. In some sessions our guest creates a second video to answer questions that participants may have. Although our guest is not sitting at the virtual table with your interprofessional team, the experience they have shared is front and centre—from “gold stars” to “wishes”.

What is the purpose of PFN Events?

In interprofessional PFN Events, participants have the opportunity to hear directly from an individual about their healthcare experience. Although we have most likely all had healthcare experiences, by focusing on the experience of our guest, participants can reflect deeply on the connection between “intended actions” and the direct experience of the intended actions as seen through the eyes of the person on the receiving end.

So, one of the main purposes of PFN sessions is to help health professions learners understand the healthcare experience from the perspective of patients and their close ones. Learners often report feeling inspired and connected to the individuals who share their healthcare experience. The patient becomes a “real person” and an active collaborator on the healthcare team. PFN participants specifically focus on the interprofessional competencies of Role Clarification, Team Functioning, Interprofessional Communication, and Patient/client/family/community-centered care.

PFN Event participants actively engage and reflect in interprofessional small teams. Learners come to better understand and feel how important their contributions are to patient care — and to the functioning of healthcare teams — as they practice their professional roles in real time with colleagues. The importance of thoughtful collaboration and cooperation is often highlighted in the experiences patients share through their videos.

PFN Event participants tell us that they:

• Better understand the importance of clear communication with other disciplines as they contribute to completing shared team tasks. This is great practice for providing high-quality healthcare for (and with) patients, families, and communities.
• Develop confidence in their discipline’s role and find their professional voice within their professional role.
• Learn the importance of their role within the healthcare system—and in caring with individuals seeking healthcare support.
• Gain insight into the experience and perspectives of individuals who have accessed care.

Participants benefit from PFN Events, which are structured interprofessional education experiences, to the extent to which they are prepared, professional, contributive, and open to learning — not only about themselves as team members but also about their future colleagues and the individuals who have shared their healthcare experience.

Team tasks include exercises such as developing a timeline of healthcare, preparing a scope of practice chart, and/or developing questions for the guest. Individual tasks include reflection on team contributions and conclude with participants making a note to their future professional selves.

What does a PFN Event “look” like?

All PFN Events open on Monday and close on the Friday of the same week. Participants can expect to spend 1.5 hours to complete a single PFN Event. PFN Events are a mix of asynchronous preparation and individual reflection and synchronous team tasks and team reflection. Participants negotiate meetings times with their team members. Teams are randomly generated and are as professionally diverse as possible based on the registrants.

PFN Events, like all centrally coordinated USask IPE events, have a “rhythm” of four steps:

1. Preparation establishes the “common language” for the event. Learners get ready by becoming familiar with the resources that will help them be successful in the activities they do with their colleagues. Resources highlight communication strategies, teamwork practices, reflective tools, and conceptual frameworks. During the Preparation, participants also watch the guest’s video.
2. Participation. Small teams of three to four learners from different professions meet to collaborate on their team tasks. Tasks have included the following:
   • Team-focused skill practice. Discussion of effective teams, communication approaches that are beneficial to teamwork, and strategies that contribute to team effectiveness.
   • Teams work through a clinical scenario or case to practice these team skills. In PFNs, the guest’s experience is the focus of discussions, tasks, and reflections.
3. Team reflection. Teams are provided with reflective questions to guide the debrief of their shared collaborative learning experience.
4. Individual reflective practice. This component is essential for the development of team and communication skills. To complete the PFN Event, learners are guided through a reflective practice framework. In PFNs, participants are asked to make a summarizing note to their future professional selves.

To summarize, in PFN Events, individuals who have accessed healthcare share their perspectives on their lived experience in a 15-minute video. PFN Event participants discuss and reflect on these experiences in small interprofessional teams. The discussions, as well as the individual and team reflective activities provide opportunities to practice team skills, clarify roles, explore “scope of practice”, and prepare oneself for future practice as an interprofessional healthcare team member. PFN Events are opportunities to gain insight into the lived experience of the individuals who share their healthcare experience.

How can I participate in PFN Events?

It is easy to access a PFN Event. Follow these steps: 

1. Register for the event in IPECT. 
2. Start the event on the release date
3. Progress through the activities in the PFN Event in IPECT.

We currently offer seven online PFN Events per academic year through IPECT. PFN Events are scoped at 90 minutes over the course of one week.

If you are a learner in the USask Health Sciences, you can register for PFN Events in IPECT at https://usask.ipect.app.   If you are a learner attending another institution (SaskPolytechnic, UofR, etc.), you are welcome to participate in PFN Events. Please contact the USask Health Sciences team to find out more.

You can also visit the USask Health Sciences IPE webpage for more information and support—and for the most up-to-date calendar of IPE Events.

If you have a healthcare experience you would like to share a in PFN Event, please be in touch with Dr. Getahun Lombamo to learn more about how you can contribute.