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In a move to offer broader interprofessional training, Harvard Medical School has received an accreditation term from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, making the School an accredited provider of continuing education units (CEU) for nurses.
“A large number of the learners who attend our continuing medical education courses are nurses,” said David Roberts, dean for external education at HMS.
“The ability to offer these credits shows our commitment to promoting interprofessional continuing education, which is associated with improved health care delivery and better patient outcomes,” Roberts said.
The World Health Organization and its partners identify interprofessional collaboration in education and practice as a strategy to mitigate the global health workforce crisis and recent studies have demonstrated the positive impact of this strategy on clinician wellness and patient care.
In addition, a study published in the Journal of Interprofessional Education & Practice noted, among other benefits, “[B]y understanding where one profession’s skill set ends and another’s begins, participants were able to provide more immediate and continuous care for their patients.”
“As an evidence base continues to be established related to the impact of interprofessional education on practice and health outcomes, an opportunity exists for us to contribute to this body of research by tracking our work to build interprofessional education,” said Ellen Long-Middleton, the lead nurse planner accountable for the overall functioning of the accredited provider unit.
“Nurses are a vital part of the health care delivery team, and we are committed to their professional development,” said Ajay Singh, senior associate dean for postgraduate medical education at HMS. “Achievement of this accreditation is the culmination of a multi-year process starting with conversations at the leadership level.”
