Interprofessional Nursing Education

Approved:          January, 2011

Approved by:     National Assembly

WHEREAS The CNSA is the official “voice” for nursing students in Canada and are actively dedicated to increasing the professional and educational aspects of the nursing profession,

WHEREAS The CNSA's Strategic Plan (2006-2010) identifies the need to take a leadership role in the promotion and development of Interprofessional Education (IPE) with an identified outcome of advocating for nursing students to become involved in promoting and incorporating nursing into inter professional education,

WHEREAS The accrediting body for nursing education, the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN) has recently formed an IPE task force with the mandate of providing advice and recommendations on how CASN can  create a role for nursing education within the context of IPE,

WHEREAS IPE is supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) who believes interprofessional education is an essential step in developing a collaborative practice-ready health workforce that is better qualified to respond to the needs of the public, the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) partners with nurses, other health care providers, health system stakeholders and the public to acquire and sustain optimal practice environments and enhance client outcomes, and the National Health Science Students Association (NaHSSA) Advocacy Task Force whose objective is to focus on advocating for interprofessional education in current curriculum and practice settings.

WHEREAS Participation in IPE can  enhance awareness of professional roles and develop mutual role respect, (Derbyshire & Machin, 2010),  decrease anxiety during interprofessional rounds, and improve  participation  in care planning and interprofessional collaboration (Miller et al, 2008),

BE IT RESOLVED that the CNSA recognize and emphasize the importance of IPE within nursing education programs.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that CNSA will advocate for nursing schools across Canada to include IPE in nursing education programs.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the CNSA will work collaboratively with CASN to develop standard and policies to implement IPE as mandatory accreditation criteria.

Submitted by:

Catherine Burt

Megan Fagner

Ashley Goobie

Rebekah King

Traci Trimm

Robyn Wrice

References

Canadian Nurses Association (2010). Registered nurses collectively contributing to the health of Canadians and the advancement of nursing. Retrieved January 16th, 2011 from www.can-nurses.ca/CNA/about/default_e.aspx

Canadian Nursing Students' Association (2011). Task force on interprofessional education. Retrieved on January 17th, 2011 from http://casn.ca/en/Committees_and_Task_Forces_29/items/Task_Force_on_Inter-professional_Education_9.html

Derbyshire, J.A. and Machin, A.L. (2010). Learning to work collaboratively: Nurses' views of their pre-registration inter professional education and its impact on practice. Nurse Education in Practice, doi: 10.1016/j.near.2010.11.010

Miller, K.L., Reeves, S., Zwarenstein, M., Beales, J.D., Kenaszuck, C., Gotlib Conn, L. (2008). Nursing emotion work and interprofessional collaboration in general internal medicine wards: a qualitative study. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 64(4), 332-343.

National Health Sciences Students' Association (2009). Advocacy task force. Retrieved on January 17th, 2011 from http://www.nahssa.ca/static/docs/Advocacy%20Task%20Force%20Document.pdf

World Health Organization (2010). Framework for action on inter professional education and collaborative practice. Retrieved on January 16th, 2011 from http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2010/WHO_HRH_HPN_10.3_eng.pdf

Page last updated: December 19, 2011

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