The National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education
An estimated 70 percent of healthcare errors are due to poor communication. In simulations like this one, professionals from multiple disciplines can work on not only their medical skills but their interprofessional communication skills, as well.
The Interprofessional Movement in South Dakota That is exactly the type of effort –focused, measured and determined - characterizing the newly invigorated campaign to propel the interprofessional movement in South Dakota. The campaign got a big boost and elevated levels of responsibility and opportunity last June when the University of South Dakota, representing South Dakota’s Interprofessional Practice and Education Collaborative (SD-IPEC), signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education. SD-IPEC is the statewide group working to advance interprofessionalism in South Dakota. Dr. Carla Dieter, chair of the Nursing Department in the School of Health Sciences at the University of South Dakota, also serves as chair of SD-IPEC. “We are now part of a national effort to contribute to the measurement of the interprofessional education and practice through affiliation with the National Center,” says Dieter. “By working with the national center we can tap into resources that will help propel our work forward on a broader scale as well as contribute to the National Center’s Data Repository. It is exciting to be part of this important national effort.”
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Leading a National Effort South Dakota is one of only 11 states to have formalized a relationship with the national organization, and South Dakota’s level of statewide organization is a rarity among states. Out of the 11 member states, only South Dakota’s and Arizona’s initiatives involve multiple educational institutions, and South Dakota is the only member state involving practice partners in their membership. It is not hyperbole to observe that South Dakota’s initiative to advance interprofessional education and practice rates as among the most aggressive and resourceful in the nation. Carla Dieter and her colleagues in SD-IPEC are leading a singularly unique effort that has elevated the state to national prominence. One of SD-IPEC’s objectives is to further and appropriately broaden those participating in the effort. The group recognizes that the state’s rural composition and its diverse and far-flung constituencies demands greater engagement and participation. That means communities, community organizations, and local and state governmental representation in SD-IPEC is imperative. Whereas some states are pursuing interprofessional health care emphasizing specifically parochial locales, South Dakota is doing just the opposite. It truly is a statewide effort.
The National Center and its Nexus Innovations Network are housed at the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis. The Center was founded in 2012 to provide leadership, resources and evidence to advance interprofessional healthcare across the country, and it functions as a unique public-private partnership with funding from the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA), the University of Minnesota, and the three private foundations: Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Barbara Brandt, PhD, director of the National Center has been keenly interested and involved in South Dakota’s interprofessional initiatives, and she is delighted with the state’s direction and progress. “South Dakota,” said Brandt, “provides us a unique opportunity to see the potential of a unified, statewide collaborative of higher education and health system partners working towards the shared goal of improved population health.”
The Need for Interprofessionalism The need for interprofessional education and practice in healthcare is convincingly and poignantly described by Dr. Dieter. “Current research shows that ineffective communication among healthcare professionals is a leading cause of medical errors,” she says. ”This requires a response in how we educate healthcare students. By providing opportunities for students to learn together, they not only understand each other’s roles, but recognize the expertise of each team member and the value of their contribution.” “The ultimate goal is to educate students interprofessionally so that it becomes so ingrained in their nature to work together that when they enter practice it will translate into sound interprofessional practices and produce positive patient outcomes,” says Dr. Dieter.
Midwest Medical Edition