Expanding collaborative boundaries in nursing education and practice: The nurse practitioner-dentist model for primary care.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to describe the design and implementation of a novel interprofessional collaborative practice education program for nurse practitioner and dental students, the Nurse Practitioner-Dentist Model for Primary Care (NPD Program). The NPD Program expands collaborative boundaries in advanced practice nursing by integrating primary care within an academic dental practice. The dental practice is located in a large, urban city in the Northeast United States and provides comprehensive dental services to vulnerable and underserved patients across the age spectrum. The NPD Program is a hybrid curriculum comprised of online learning, interprofessional collaborative practice-based leadership and teamwork training, and clinical rotations focused on the oral-systemic health connection. Practice-based learning promotes the development of leadership and team-based competencies. Nurse practitioners emerge with the requisite interprofessional collaborative practice competencies to improve oral and systemic health outcomes.