Effective use of interpreters by family nurse practitioner students: Is didactic curriculum enough?

Purpose: Nurse practitioners (NPs) care for patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). However, NP education for improving communication in interpreted encounters is not well reported. We report a single school study using standardized encounters within a clinical practice examination (CPX) to assess the adequacy of current curriculum. Data sources: Entering family NP (FNP) students (n= 26) participated in a baseline CPX case. They were assessed by standardized patients using the validated Interpreter Impact Rating Scale (IIRS) and Physician‐Patient Interaction (PPI) scale, and by interpreters using the Interpreter Scale (IS).The case was re‐administered to 31 graduating students following completion of existing curriculum. Primary outcome was aggregate change in skills comprising global IIRS, PPI and IS scores. Pre‐ and post‐performance data were available for one class of 10 students. Secondary outcome was change in skill scores for this class. Conclusions: Mean aggregate global scores showed no significant improvement between scores at entry and graduation. For 10 students with pre‐ and post‐performance data, there was no improvement in skill scores for any measure. Skill assessed on one measure worsened. Implications for practice: FNP students show no improvement in skills in working with interpreters with the current curriculum. An enhanced curriculum is needed.