331263
Putting patients at the center: Educating students in a new model of primary health care
Future health care delivery models call for patient-centered/coordinated primary care practice; this model, referred to as a patient centered medical home (PCMH) can lead to higher quality and lower costs, improving the patients’ and providers’ experience of care. It is imperative that nursing students be prepared with knowledge, skills, and attitudes to function in such a health care delivery model.
description
As part of an existing grant-funded project (Interprofessional Collaborative Redesign and Evaluation for Population Access to Health - I-CARE PATH), Senior level community health nursing students learned about and actively participated in the transformation of a Family Medicine Clinic into a Patient Centered Medical Home. Students were integral members of the interprofessional team. They were charged with projects related to care redesign requiring them to assess and describe work process and communication issues, and develop and implement population focused health promotion initiatives.
lessons learned
Bridging education and practice, faculty created and expanded interprofessional clinical opportunities for students to collaborate with providers in nurse-led teams and implement primary health care, care coordination and health promotion interventions. The rotation culminated in presentations to PCMH providers; demonstrating increased knowledge and self-transformation.
implications
This innovative approach to teaching community/population focused health engaged students in learning about patient-centered care model; empowered them to take the lead in projects and transformed their attitudes and values about the importance of thinking upstream to identify barriers that prevent vulnerable populations from participating in their own health care.
Learning Areas:
Other professions or practice related to public healthPublic health or related nursing
Learning Objectives:
Describe an innovative clinical experience that teaches students about patient-centered care and interprofessional collaboration.
Discuss the benefits and challenges when implementing an innovative clinical experience at a non-traditional community health site.
Identify clinical experiences that engage students in community outreach and population health.
Keyword(s): Patient-Centered Care, Nursing Education
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the faculty who developed and taught this innovative community health nursing clinical experience.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.