Transitioning from physician to nurse practitioner

Foreign-educated physicians (FEPs), also known as “international medical graduates”, represent a rich source of potential primary-care providers. Despite their high level of medical knowledge and skills as well as ethnic and cultural diversity suited to meet the demands of patients, FEPs face many barriers in their attempt to continue to practice medicine in the USA. The program of study at Florida International University’s Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing and Health Sciences provides FEPs the opportunity to have an impact on health care and continue to practice medicine in the USA by becoming nurse practitioners

Faculty intent to engage in interprofessional education

Maria Olenick,1 Lois Ryan Allen2 1College of Nursing and Health Science, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA; 2School of Nursing, Widener University, Chester, PA, USA Background: This descriptive correlational and comparative study explored health-care faculty (HCF) attitudes toward interprofessional education (IPE) and interprofessional health-care teams, HCF perceptions of subjective norms, the influence of subjective norms on HCF intent to engage in IPE, and HCF intent to engage in IPE. In addition, differences among seven disciplines of HCF were explored. Methods: Nursing, medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician assistants, and social work faculty were identified. Stratified random sampling was used to ensure that the population surveyed was representative of the target population. The total sample for this study included 439 HCF from the seven identified health-care professions in the US. Data collection included measures of attitudes toward IPE and attitudes toward interprofessional health-care teams. Subjective norms were measured using two 7-point rating scales. Intent to engage in IPE was measured using a 10-point rating scale. Results: There were no significant differences among HCF groups regarding attitudes toward IPE or interprofessional health-care teams. Administrative faculty reported greater intent to engage in IPE than teaching faculty. HCF who were currently in or had previously engaged in IPE reported greater intent to engage in or continue to engage, and had higher attitude and subjective norm scores than faculty without IPE experience. The combination of perceived pressure from school administrators and attitudes toward IPE was the best predictor of intent to engage in IPE. Conclusion: IPE has the potential to influence patient quality of care and lead to better working relationships between health-care providers. HCF are more likely to engage in IPE when they believe their school's administrators think they should engage in IPE and when they have positive attitudes toward IPE. Keywords: interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, IPE, teamwork, health-car

US veterans and their unique issues: enhancing health care professional awareness

United States veterans are a multifaceted population with a distinct culture that includes, but is not limited to, values, customs, ethos, selfless duty, codes of conduct, implicit patterns of communication, and obedience to command. Veterans experience mental health disorders, substance use disorders, post-traumatic stress, and traumatic brain injury at disproportionate rates compared to their civilian counterparts. Eighteen to 22 American veterans commit suicide daily and young veterans aged 18–44 are most at risk. Health care professionals must be aware of patients’ military history and be able to recognize suicide-risk factors, regardless of age. Advancement in medical technology has allowed servicemen to survive their injuries but, for many, at the cost of a traumatic limb amputation and associated mental scarring. Health care professionals must be able to address physical safety concerns, as well as, emotional health of veterans. Approximately 49,933 American veterans are homeless and face the same difficulties as non-veterans in addition to service-related matters. Separation from military service and issues related to complex multiple deployments are among specifically identified veteran issues. Successful veteran reintegration into civilian life rests upon providing veterans with training that builds on their military knowledge and skill, employment post-separation from service, homelessness prevention, and mental health programs that promote civilian transition. Preparing health care providers to meet the complex needs of a vast veteran population can be facilitated by implementing veteran content into curricula that includes veteran patient simulations and case studies, and utilizes veteran clinical faculty

A Gluten-Free Diet, Not an Appropriate Choice without a Medical Diagnosis

In the past, only people diagnosed with celiac disease, approximately 1% of the population, avoided gluten consumption through all their meals. However, popular media often now mistakenly present gluten-free foods as being a healthier choice, and more people have now concluded that gluten is a harmful part of the diet. A review of literature on gluten-free diets, gluten sensitivity, celiac disease, and attitudes toward gluten consumption was undertaken to examine the prevalence and consequences of adopting a gluten-free diet and to provide guidance to healthcare practitioners whose patients are now often adopting this diet without medical input. Aside from celiac disease, nonceliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) occurs in those persons in which gluten ingestion leads to symptomatic manifestations in the absence of celiac disease or wheat allergy but who report a remission of certain symptoms after removing gluten from their diet. However, it was been shown that a large percentage of people who claim NCGS do not feel those manifestations under a double-blind challenge to gluten. Moreover, some parents, believing that ingesting gluten is detrimental for their health, adopt gluten-free diets for their children. A review of existing data shows that there are detrimental effects to going gluten free, including loss of the dietary fiber, deficiencies in dietary minerals and vitamins, and potential heavy metal exposure. Healthcare practitioners should query patients about their dietary choices, and in cases of questionable adoption of gluten-free diet, patients and parents are educated about the detriments of a gluten-free diet, and in cases where patients continue to insist on gluten-free foods, referrals to nutritional counseling are warranted in order to minimize potential harm

A Collaborative Care Summit: A Regional Model of Interprofessional Education

Purpose: To describe an interprofessional summit Background: Northeastern/North CentralPennsylvania is home to several excellent healthcare education programs. Unfortunately these programs are somewhat smaller and isolated with most universities/colleges housing just a few disciplines. Interprofessional education requires collaboration across institutions, professions, and county lines. The Northeast/central Interprofessional Education Coalition, comprised of a group of educators from 12 colleges and universities, was created in 2008 with a mission to promote IPE in our region. Description of Intervention: An Interprofessional Care Summit was held on March 30, 2011 at five different sites inScranton,Wilkes-Barre andWilliamsport. The collaborative team designed a case which would allow interaction between the students from the sixteen different professions represented. The theme of the summit was the medically underserved. Each summit began with an opening session that included a description of interprofessional education and an overview of the summit. A brief video case-vignette was viewed by the participants. After the case presentation, participants broke into small interprofessional groups of 10 students and 2 facilitators. Students discussed the case and learned from, about and with each other. The small group discussion continued for approximately one hour at which time they reconvened for a wrap up discussion. Results: Over 500 students and 80 facilitators participated in the summit. A survey Monkey evaluation was sent to each student and facilitator. 200 students and 67 facilitators completed the survey. 90% of the facilitators and 80% of the students agreed that the case-discussion approach was an effective way to teach IPE. 91% of the facilitators and 78% of the students agreed that the summit was effective. Comments were overwhelmingly positive. Conclusions: It is possible to develop a strong interprofessional education program when faculty members work collaboratively across not only disciplines but also across a geographical region. Learning Objectives: To expand student’s knowledge of other health professions and promote interprofessional understanding of other health professionals’ roles and responsibilities in patient care. To identify and discuss gaps and mismatches in understanding of one’s own health discipline and other disciplines in the context of patient care. To promote personal reflection about the identification of healthcare professional roles and responsibilities

Transitioning from military medics to registered nurses

The nursing shortage in the USA is expected to reach 260,000 registered nurses (RNs) by 2025. The most profound shortages are expected in California and Florida, translating into 109,779 and 128,364 RN jobs, respectively. Despite a foreseen growth in nursing career opportunities nationwide, the supply of nurses will be insufficient to meet the corresponding demand. Capitalizing on prior education, experience, and skills of military clinical personnel to fill these jobs could significantly reduce the projected nursing shortage. Florida International University’s Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing and Health Sciences is circumventing barriers to recruit, retain, and graduate transitioning veteran medics and corpsmen as Bachelor of Science in Nursing prepared RNs who reintegrate into the civilian workforce. The Veteran Bachelor of Science in Nursing (VBSN) program is in the form of a cooperative agreement between Florida International University and the US Health Resources and Services Administration. The VBSN program’s main objective is to build upon the unique leadership skills, clinical education, and training of military medics and corpsmen to ensure successful completion of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing curriculum. VBSN students, as veterans themselves, have unique knowledge and exposure to the specific health issues and needs of the veteran population overall. They are poised and best prepared to effectively care for the US population, particularly the current 22 million US veterans and 1.6 million Florida veterans. Additionally, the VBSN program will alleviate the challenges, such as the lack of recognition of military skills, unemployment, the substandard income, and homelessness that many former service members face after separation from the military

A Collaborative Care Summit: A Regional Model of Interprofessional Education

15 minute Research Paper (31 PowerPoint slides) Purpose: To describe an interprofessional summit Background: Northeastern/North Central Pennsylvania is home to several excellent healthcare education programs. Unfortunately these programs are somewhat smaller and isolated with most universities/colleges housing just a few disciplines. Interprofessional education requires collaboration across institutions, professions, and county lines. The Northeast/central Interprofessional Education Coalition, comprised of a group of educators from 12 colleges and universities, was created in 2008 with a mission to promote IPE in our region. Description of Intervention: An Interprofessional Care Summit was held on March 30, 2011 at five different sites inScranton,Wilkes-Barre andWilliamsport. The collaborative team designed a case which would allow interaction between the students from the sixteen different professions represented. The theme of the summit was the medically underserved. Each summit began with an opening session that included a description of interprofessional education and an overview of the summit. A brief video case-vignette was viewed by the participants. After the case presentation, participants broke into small interprofessional groups of 10 students and 2 facilitators. Students discussed the case and learned from, about and with each other. The small group discussion continued for approximately one hour at which time they reconvened for a wrap up discussion. Results: Over 500 students and 80 facilitators participated in the summit. A survey Monkey evaluation was sent to each student and facilitator. 200 students and 67 facilitators completed the survey. 90% of the facilitators and 80% of the students agreed that the case-discussion approach was an effective way to teach IPE. 91% of the facilitators and 78% of the students agreed that the summit was effective. Comments were overwhelmingly positive. Conclusions: It is possible to develop a strong interprofessional education program when faculty members work collaboratively across not only disciplines but also across a geographical region. Learning Objectives: To expand student’s knowledge of other health professions and promote interprofessional understanding of other health professionals’ roles and responsibilities in patient care. To identify and discuss gaps and mismatches in understanding of one’s own health discipline and other disciplines in the context of patient care. To promote personal reflection about the identification of healthcare professional roles and responsibilities

Positive and Negative Factors That Influence Health Care Faculty Intent to Engage in Interprofessional Education (IPE)

Background: This study explored the positive and negative factors that influence interprofessional education (IPE) implementation in health care education programs across the United States. Methods: The study sample consisted of 439 (response rate 8.4%) health care faculties from seven health care professions (nursing, medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician assistant, and social work) who were asked what the positive and negative factors are that influence their decisions to engage in IPE. Results: Three positive categories and two negative categories concerning factors that influence health care faculty (HCF) intent to engage in IPE emerged. The three major categories of positive factors emerged as patient care, which was mentioned by 196 subjects or 54% of the sample, student learning, which was mentioned by 157 subjects or 43% of the sample, and health care teams, which was mentioned by 88 subjects or 24% of the sample. The two major categories of negative factors emerged as scheduling and coordination, which was mentioned by 230 subjects or 63% of the sample, and discipline culture which was mentioned by 103 subjects or 28% of the sample. Conclusion: This study contributes to the body of knowledge concerning the factors that influence effective IPE implementation. Discussion is provided regarding the positive and negative categories that emerged and how they influence effective IPE delivery

Research in Academia: Creating and Maintaining High Performance Research Teams

As universities strive to raise their academic rank through the quality and quantity of scholarship in order to maintain their competitive edge and funding sources, faculty face pressure to increase number of publications and externally funded research (or project proposals). There are many challenges that make it difficult for faculty to meet a university’s research demand, such as increased work load in academia, teaching large-size classes of students, and other strict university deadlines related to book ordering, scheduling classes, posting grades, etc. Faculty work group conflicts, faculty incivility, and dwindling grant/research funding add to faculty stress. In order to promote scholarship in academia, administrative support, collaborative work environments, mentoring, and appropriate appraisal systems are needed to enable faculty to be more productive and satisfied

Interprofessional education: a concept analysis

Maria Olenick1, Lois Ryan Allen2, Raymond A Smego Jr11The Commonwealth Medical College, Scranton, PA, USA; 2School of Nursing, Widener University, Chester, PA, USAAbstract: Interprofessional education is broadly defined as a teaching and learning process that fosters collaborative work between two or more health care professions. Interprofessional education, as a proven, beneficial approach to collaborative learning that addresses the problems of fragmentation in health care delivery and separation among health care professionals, is frequently promulgated but not always successfully implemented. Furthermore, there are several different interpretations, overlapping terminologies, interchangeable terms, and a lack of uniformity of a definition for interprofessional education. This concept analysis determines the attributes and characteristics of interprofessional education, develops an operational definition that fits all health-related disciplines, defines common goals, and improves overall clarity, consensus, consistency, and understanding of interprofessional education among educators, professionals, and researchers. Through effective incorporation of interprofessional education into curricular and practice settings, optimal patient-centered outcomes can potentially result as effective and highly integrated teams facilitate and optimize collaborative patient care and safety.Keywords: health professions education, collaborative learning, curriculum, patient care, health care service