Inter-professional Dual Nurse Practitioner Concentration

Inter-professional collaboration in academic settings is often difficult to initiate and maintain. These relationships are more likely to occur among researchers or clinicians than among educators. However, this University and a Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) recognized a critical lack of healthcare services for rural individuals, particularly veterans and their families, and have implemented an inter-professional NP concentration with the rural veteran in mind. Veterans tend to have complex mental and physical health needs, and these are often untreated due to lack of access to healthcare services. From the initial discussions and conceptualization of the concentration, the University and VAMC agreed that the ideal graduate would be one who could provide mental and physical healthcare treatment to the rural veteran. Therefore, the concentration was designed so that graduates would be eligible for Psychiatric Mental Health and Family NP certification. In addition, we recruited BSN prepared nurses who are from rural areas and will return to those areas upon graduation. The inter-professional component of the partnership includes the collaborative creation of courses, and individuals enrolled in these courses are from the College of Nursing, School of Social Work, School of Medicine, and Department of Psychology. Students take these inter-professional courses to sensitize them to the cultural phenomena associated with the lived experiences of rural veterans. In addition, faculty from nursing, social work, medicine, and psychology share in facilitating the courses. This presentation will include a discussion of rural healthcare, particularly of veterans residing in Alabama. In addition, the collaborative process of identifying the need for, and the development of, an innovative NP concentration will be presented. Further, what went well during the inter-professional NP concentration development process and what we would have done differently will be shared. Finally, an update on the successes and challenges of the NP concentration will be discussed. The overall purpose of the presentation is to provide the attendee with a model and guide for inter-professional education, and to inspire NP faculty to purse similar innovative education endeavors.