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Creating an Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Experience for Public Health Nursing and First Year Medical Students: A Pilot Project

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014

Susan Coleman, RN, BSN, MPH , School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, Reston, VA
Donna Cameron, PhD, MPH , Department of Family Medicine, Georgetown University, Washington, DC
BACKGROUND:As the health care environment shifts to meet the increasing needs and complexity of communities and populations, Interprofessional Collaborative Practice (IPCP) has been promulgated to improve outcomes and decrease costs.  Education for health professionals is done in silos, with few opportunities to develop collaborative relationships. In Interprofessional Education for Collaboration (2013), the Institute of Medicine (IOM) calls for new models for educating health professionals.  The IOM Future of Nursing Report (2010) supports these conclusions in its key message that nurses should perform as full partners with physicians and other health care professionals.  It further recommends expanded opportunities for nurses to lead and diffuse collaborative improvement efforts. 

METHODS:Based on the Core Competencies for IPCP published by the Interprofessional Collaborative (2011), a collaborative project between a school of nursing and health studies and school of medicine at a Washington, DC university was undertaken.  Senior level nursing students in their Public Health Nursing rotation partnered with First Year medical students in Service Learning to deliver care to a homeless population at a services center and emergency shelter. The program allowed students from nursing and medicine the opportunity to collaboratively apply health and health promotion principles using a team approach.

RESULTS:  Students documented increased understanding of the other health professional roles as well as an awareness of the impact of differences in “socialization” between disciplines. Significantly, the medical students documented increased appreciation of the public health nursing role.

CONCLUSIONS:  Increasing collaborative educational opportunities between the disciplines would benefit interprofessional communication and teamwork.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Other professions or practice related to public health
Program planning
Public health or related education
Public health or related nursing
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the benefits of participation in an interprofessional collaborative practice experience to public health nursing and medical students Compare the differences in socialization and communication patterns in nursing and medical students Identify methods to integrate interprofessional experiences in health professions curricula

Keyword(s): Partner Involvement, Nursing Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a Co-Investigator on the project, a public health nursing instructor and developed the community based learning experience for the students. Current and past participant in curricular development, and creating / supervising iinterprofessional experiences for students.
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.

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