Interprofessional Education to Impact Professional Nursing Clinical Practice

Abstract

Since the Joint Commission issued its roadmap for hospitals in 2010 outlining the need for interprofessional collaboration for safety, quality, and effectiveness in patient care, institutions have sought to improve the healthcare environment. While communication and teamwork have improved in recent years, the Joint Commission and the World Health Organization have continued to stress the importance of the key components of interprofessional collaboration: an understanding of other disciplines’ values/ethics and roles/responsibilities and the ability to communicate work as a team. Researchers have concluded the importance of introducing interprofessional education in pre-licensure settings to impact future healthcare professionals’ ability to collaborate with other disciplines in the workplace. Several nursing schools have implemented strategies for interprofessional education and are looking for new, innovative ways to simulate interprofessional collaboration for future practice.