Interprofessional Education in the Care of complex Community-based Patients

Interprofessional training has been shown to improve communication, collaboration and enhanced quality of care. Yet opportunities in educational programs for nurses and physicians are rare. Historically, education for nurses and physicians occurs in silos with little cross-fertilization. Such cross-fertilization is critically important for a rapidly changing healthcare environment. The Daniels Initiative was created to teach graduate and undergraduate nursing and medical students and resident physicians the skills of interprofessional collaboration while caring for complex community-based patients. The program consists of two parallel arms: an undergraduate nursing/medicine program and a graduate nursing/resident physician program. Each arm has classroom-based and clinically-based portions where learners focus on the care of complex community-dwelling adults. This presentation describes only the graduate nursing/resident physician arm. This initiative focuses on developing an intraprofessional community of practice. Communities of practice are defined as collaborative groups and networks that support professionals while they develop shared knowledge and understanding. Graduate nurse practitioner and osteopathic and allopathic resident physicians were the targeted learners. This is the first year of a 5-year program designed to equip learners with the necessary skills to successfully provide interprofessional care. Emphasis is placed on communication and collaboration skills. Initially, three 90-minute didactic based classroom sessions were developed and implemented for all nurse practitioner students and first-year resident physicians. Patients will then be jointly managed in nurse practitioner-medical resident dyads for a minimum of four visits over time including three clinic visits and one home visit. Interprofessional groups learn together for a minimum of 12 months. Pre- and post survey results of the Interprofesssional Attitudes and Practices Survey and qualitative data will be shared.