Evidence-Guided Integration of Interprofessional Collaborative Practice into Nurse Managed Health Centers

The Division of Nursing, Bureau of Health Workforce, has spearheaded a 3-year effort to increase the skills of nurses to lead interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) teams. Since 2012, the Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention program has funded 53 sites engaged in this work. The purposes of this report are to describe the IPCP framework undergirding implementation at one such site, describe the evaluation components and approach, describe how health professions students are integrated into this model, and discuss implications of IPCP for future nurse-managed/nurse-led initiatives within an evolving health care environment. Core team members include a family nurse practitioner, physician, pharmacist, social worker, and community health advocate. The clinic is located within a public housing complex; the target population is largely uninsured or underinsured with a historically high rate of emergency department utilization.