1 Values and Ethics (Interprofessional)
LEARNING GUIDE: VALUES AND ETHICS (INTERPROFESSIONAL)
OVERVIEW
This lesson is a review and offers background to the principles of teamwork and interprofessional practice. There is optional content concerning personal values that provides a context for professional values and ethics common among healthcare professions.
Why do we need to practice interprofessionally? “Today’s patients have complex health needs and typically require more than one discipline to address issues regarding their health status (1). In 2001, a recommendation by the Institute of Medicine Committee on Quality of Health Care in America suggested that healthcare professionals working in interprofessional teams can best communicate and address these complex and challenging needs. This interprofessional approach may allow sharing of expertise and perspectives to form a common goal of restoring or maintaining an individual’s health and improving outcomes while combining resources (1, 3)” (Bridges et al., 2011, p. 1).
Who is IPEC? The intentional origin of work concerning inteprofessional practice is credited to the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC). IPEC was created in 2009 when six national educational associations of health professionals “…formed a collaborative to promote and encourage constituent efforts that would advance substantive interprofessional learning experiences to help prepare future health professionals for enhanced team-based care of patients and improved population health outcomes” (IPEC, 2011, p. 1). This collaborative brought together higher education from various medical fields, providing interprofessional collaboration to guide professional schools. The idea behind IPEC is that students will have a more well-rounded education, are more able to work as a part of a team and can work interprofessionally. According to the World Health Organization, “Interprofessional education occurs when students from two or more professions learn about, from, and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes. Once students understand how to work interprofessionally, they are ready to enter the workplace as a member of the collaborative practice team. This is a key step in moving health systems from fragmentation to a position of strength (Ostermeyer, 2015, para1-2).
OBJECTIVES
For this lesson you will:
- Describe the baseline values & ethics of the healthcare professional.
- Describe interprofessional practice as well as how it relates to Quality and Safety.
- Differentiate between intraprofessional, multidisciplinary, and interprofessional.
COMPETENCIES
| IPEC Sub-Competencies – Values/Ethics for Interprofessional Practice | |
| VE1 | Place the interests of patients and populations at the center of interprofessional health care delivery and population health programs and policies, with the goal of promoting health and health equity across the life span. |
| VE3 | Embrace the cultural diversity and individual differences that characterize patients, populations, and the health team. |
| VE6 | Develop a trusting relationship with patients, families, and other team members (CIHC, 2010). |
| VE7 | Demonstrate high standards of ethical conduct and quality of care in contributions to team-based care. |
| VE8 | Manage ethical dilemmas specific to interprofessional patient/population centered care situations. |
| VE9 | Act with honesty and integrity in relationships with patients, families, communities, and other team members. |
DEFINITIONS
Interprofessional values and ethics – “Interprofessional values and related ethics are an important, new part of crafting professional identity, one that is both professional and interprofessional in nature. These values and ethics are patient centered with a community/population orientation, grounded in a sense of shared purpose to support the common good in health care, reflect a shared commitment to creating safer, more efficient, and more effective systems of care” (IPEC, 2011, p.17).
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
- The following sources with study guides have been curated for student learning.
- For application and demonstration of learning, lab exercises can be found in the second half of this online education resource, Lab Exercises.
READ: To err is human: Building a safer health system
Study Guide: In this report, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) describes that improved communication and collaboration across healthcare professions is needed to address the problem of medical errors in the USA.
REFERENCE: Institute of Medicine. (2000). To err is human: Building a safer health system.
READ: IPEC Competency, Update 2016
Study Guide: This report updates the earlier seminal document from 2011 that addresses the areas of competency for interprofessional collaborative practice for all healthcare professions. This document offers the rationale and guidelines for IPE foundational material that all healthcare professional students are learning across the USA, really worldwide.
REFERENCE: Interprofessional Education Collaborative. (2016). Core competencies for interprofessional collaborative practice: 2016 update. Washington, DC: Interprofessional Education Collaborative.
REVIEW: Perhaps you’ve heard of the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) before. Or maybe you haven’t – But you’ve reaped the benefits of its work.
Study Guide: This reference provides the list of professional organizations that are part of IPEC.
REFERENCE: Ostermeyer, K. (2019) Retrieved from https://www.elitecme.com
LESSON REFERENCES
Bridges, D. R., Davidson, R. A., Odegard, P. S., Maki, I. V., & Tomkowiak, J. (2011). Interprofessional Collaboration: Three Best Practice Models of Interprofessional Education. Medical Education Online, 16, 6035.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/meo.v16i0.6035
Interprofessional Education Collaborative. (2016). Core competencies for interprofessional practice: 2016 update. Washington, D.C.: Interprofessional Education Collaborative
Interprofessional Education Collaborative Expert Panel. (2011). Core competencies for interprofessional practice: Report of an expert panel. Washington, D.C.: Interprofessional Education Collaborative