17: INTERDISCIPLINARY AND INTERPROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION ■ 401These efficient and effective models have been shared with a variety of faculty and
students from nursing, medicine, dentistry, nutrition/ dietetics, and audiology in the UT
Nursing Clinical Enterprise through the development of six nurse- led clinics (Novak,
2015). Each of these clinics has been guided by community invitation, and a community
needs assessment, patient, parent and family focus groups and surveys, and the poten-
tial for long- term sustainability through a mosaic of support (see Figure 17.1 ). With this
approach, interprofessional students at all levels learn that the community leads the
process or “the dance.” For community buy- in and long- term collaboration, the rela-
tionship with the community must be egalitarian and respectful. Conversely, hierarchi-
cal models of the past tied to a single grant may leave communities with disdain and
mistrust and the inability or desire to sustain current or future partnerships or projects.
GOVERNMENTAL
Health policy didactic and residency courses are key elements of the DNP degree includ-
ing in- depth policy design, implementation, and evaluation. Interprofessional health policy
courses for nursing, other health sciences, engineering, business, communications, and polit-
ical science students provide an optimal setting for curricular enrichment, systems change,
and effective advocacy, and policy design. Residency experiences at the state and federal
levels are invaluable. Enabling students to understand effective lobbying, cultivate relation-
ships with key staff, work with professional organizations’ legislative experts, share expertise
through partnership development with legislators, gather data from community constituents
and stakeholders, provide testimony, assist in drafting legislation, and enact and evaluate
policy are essential components of professional development and the DNP degree. National
nursing organizations, for example, Nurse in Washington Internships (NIWI) , George Mason
University, offer a week- long intensive policy experience on Capitol Hill.
Promoting worldwide health is mankind’s greatest challenge. The DNPs and their inter-
professional partners also have the potential to lead in the local- to- global health care policy
arena. This requires an understanding of several global agencies, such as the World Health
Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the United Nations,
the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the World Bank,
and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) (Novak, 2014). Currently, there are more than 180
PAHO/ WHO collaborating centers in 15 countries in the Americas (PAHO, 2015). Ten WHO-
collaborating centers are based in U.S. schools of nursing with areas of concentration in child
health, nurse midwifery, gerontology, home health, and primary health care (PAHO, 2015).
All DNP practice inquiry projects should include health policy implications.
For some projects, the relevant policy implications are to integrate policy with eth-
ics, research, and education. Exemplars include care of vulnerable populations and
the underserved, workforce and faculty shortages, funding for nursing education,
employee and community wellness programs, and barrier removal to increased access
to advanced practice nursing care. Recognizing the underutilization of DNPs knowl-
edge and skills, the future of nursing report clearly recommends practice and licensure
at the full extent of DNP knowledge and skill preparation and competency.
NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS FOR GLOBAL
SERVICE- LEARNING PROJECTS
Nongovernmental organizations such as the Carter Center, the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, Christel House International, and the Johnson & Johnson Foundation have
supported global interprofessional service- learning projects for students in the health