Teaming up for better health care 

What nursing student Molly Steensma remembers most about a recent “Promoting Interprofessional Education for Students” program is that many minds are better than one when it comes to patient care.

photo by Bernadine Carey-Tucker

Molly Steensma, nursing major, discusses how to take a more comprehensive case history of a patient with Dr. John N. Sheagren, special assistant to the president at Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners during a PIPES meeting in March.
 

    PIPES is the student program created under the West Michigan Interprofessional Education Initiative, a partnership of 140 individuals from 20 health care organizations and agencies, including founding members Grand Valley, Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners, and Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. WMIPEI has become a model for interprofessional education and practice with recognition at both state and national levels.

    Students like Steensma who attend monthly PIPES programs represent a wide variety of health professions including nursing, physical therapy, physician assistant studies and medicine. They work together on case studies to find solutions that better meet patient needs.

    “We reflected on how we could have interacted with each other better to arrive at a possible diagnosis faster,” said Steensma. “It was a fantastic learning experience and one that I will take with me as a nurse when working with other disciplines in planning for the care of our patients.”

    Steensma’s enthusiasm for the PIPES program was not surprising to Jean Nagelkerk, vice provost for Health. As the top educator of health care professionals in West Michigan, Grand Valley initiated the WMIPEI program to fill a growing need for patient-centered, accessible and coordinated care.  

    “The majority of errors in a hospital setting come from a lack of communication across disciplines,” Nagelkerk said. “It is our responsibility to graduate health professionals who work at the top of their education and scope of practice, and know how to work together to provide better care at a decreased cost.”

    Private gifts to Grand Valley for facilities, programming and scholarships have helped the university provide leadership in developing talented professionals for the region. Grand Valley has 5,000 students who are majoring in health professions and nursing programs, more than any other university in the area. As the need for talent increases, private gifts will continue to play a major role in preserving the quality and scope of the curriculum and helping Grand Valley meet the needs of the community.

    Nagelkerk said: “There is a significant need in West Michigan for more health care providers and the type of professionals that we are training. We are bursting at the seams right now and simply need additional space to produce more graduates, expand our programs in critical areas and recruit the best faculty members and researchers to the area.”

    Steensma said she feels prepared for her future in nursing, thanks to her Grand Valley education and the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities like PIPES.

    “After meeting and learning with students from a wide variety of health disciplines in a professional setting, we all have a new respect for each other’s roles and feel confident that we can work with interprofessional team members to better care for patients,” she said. “I can’t wait to become a registered nurse.”