Interprofessional Education within A Nurse Managed Clinic for the Medically Uninsured

Interprofessional education (IPE) is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as education occurring “when students from two or more professions learn about, from and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes” (WHO, 2010). IPE is advocated in Health Professions Education: A Bridge to Quality, (IOM , 2003) which called for striking restructuring of health professions education to guarantee all students obtain competencies to effectively provide evidence-based, patient-centered care, apply  informatics in decision making, work in interprofessional health teams, and integrate quality improvement principles to enhance practice (Greiner & Knebel, 2003). The five core competencies set forth in the report were found to encompass all clinical disciplines and integrate the ten criteria established in Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21^st Century  (IOM, 2001). This call to action served as a stimulus to develop new IPE clinical opportunities for nurse practitioner students. A nurse-managed clinic focused on the provision of care to medically uninsured patients provided an opportunity for a pilot program. Graduate family nurse practitioner students, undergraduate community health nursing students, pharmacy students, and graduate counseling students are provided with an IPE clinical opportunity. Students collaborate in the provision of patient-centered, evidence-based care. The team of students provides an integrated patient assessment, develop a comprehensive plan of care, and evaluate the quality of clinical and patient outcomes. Additionally, the clinic staff identifies current issues related to patient care, that the student team review and compile a summary of current evidence that serve to inform decision making and improve practice. The format utilized in the development of the pilot, strengths and weaknesses are addressed in the presentation.