265026 Future of nursing: Advancing health through interprofessional collaboration

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 : 4:30 PM - 4:50 PM

Mary Ellen T. Miller, PhD, RN , Department of Nursing and Health, De Sales University, Center Valley, PA
Margaret Hadinger, MS , Division of Education Office of Student Affairs, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Allentown, PA
Lucy Tuton, PhD , University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Abby Letcher, MD , Lehigh Valley Health Network, Allentown, PA
     
One key recommendation from The Institute of Medicine Consensus Report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health (2010) states that nurses should be full partners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care in the United States. Yet, health professions education has generally not used interdisciplinary teaching models. A multi-institutional, interprofessional educational program illustrates the strengths of a collaborative model to educate contemporary health care teams. In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the Bridging the Gaps (BTG) Community Health Internship Program, which is a collaboration among 8 academic health institution based programs, educates over 230 health and social service professional students each summer. BTG interns work at over 100 community organizations that serve vulnerable populations, whenever possible in interprofessional teams. Interns also participate in weekly skill building workshops. BTG is an instructive example of multiple academic health institutions and health disciplines collaborating to provide a learning experience for students while partnering with community organizations. This presentation highlights the benefits and challenges of this framework for undergraduate nursing students. Lessons learned focus on educational opportunities, challenges and replication strategies.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Other professions or practice related to public health
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related nursing

Learning Objectives:
Describe interprofessional collaboration. Discuss the educational and practice benefits of interprofessional collaboration. Identify strategies to replicate this internship in their home institutions.

Keywords: Health Education Strategies, Community Collaboration

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a public health educator and serve as the academic preceptor for the Lehigh Valley Bridging the Gaps Community Health Internship Program.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4425.0: Partnering with communities in health promotion practice and research