Title: American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) > News & Information > Position Statements & White Papers > Interdisciplinary Education and Practice
Headings: Interdisciplinary Education and Practice
Interdisciplinary Education and Practice
Content: Multidisciplinary education and practice occur when several disciplines work in parallel, often with independent goals. In contrast, interdisciplinary education may include a variety of disciplines from health and other fields of study that collaborate through joint planning, decision-making, and goal-setting. Nursing students should be educated in an environment that provides such interdisciplinary educational experiences based on mutual understanding and respect and designed to enhance the practice of each discipline. One vital component of any educational endeavor is evaluation of its success. Thus, educators are responsible for assessing the results of an interdisciplinary approach to assure that collaboration is enhanced, the delivery of care is facilitated, and patient outcomes are improved. Definition
Interdisciplinary Education - An educational approach in which two or more disciplines collaborate in the learning process with the goal of fostering interprofessional interactions that enhance the practice of each discipline. Such interdisciplinary education is based on mutual understanding and respect for the actual and potential contributions of the disciplines. Background
Complex Patient Care Demands An Interdisciplinary Approach
More than a decade ago, the increasing complexity of patient care and the resultant increasing need for collaboration between health professionals was articulated 1. The ability to co-labor (collaborate) is clearly vital when the plethora of health professionals and their increasing specialization and role differentiation combine with the complexity of patient care demands to make interdependency among professionals essential. More recently, deTornyay has suggested that a philosophical shift must occur in order for the current and future generations of faculty to prepare professionals who can effectively meet the basic health care needs of the American public.