The development of interprofessional goals has become commonplace in healthcare practice and education. However, simply establishing goals does not ensure assimilation to practice, sustainability, or leadership development. Integration of interprofessional education and practice are paramount for effective teams that provide improved patient outcomes and can be accomplished through a competency-based approach. This lightning talk will provide a framework for developing interprofessional goals that lead to positive, sustainable changes. The fundamental idea is to identify observable benchmarks for the desired culture and provide intentional leadership development. As a result, learners can refine necessary skills for a more resilient and effective healthcare workforce. In addition, as stated in the literature, healthcare professionals experience higher work satisfaction and decreased burnout as part of a collaborative team culture.
Traditional leadership models typically do not address the complexities of interprofessional collaboration. Therefore, leadership training within healthcare should be innovative in advancing team dynamics, communication, conflict resolution, and include strategies to develop crucial management skills. This skillset may assist in creating mentors who then educate and support others as part of a team. It is important to establish caring environments to ensure employee retention and quality healthcare for patients. Key steps in achieving sustainable leadership through interprofessional education include setting specific institutional goals, ensuring repetitive exposure to leadership challenges, interprofessional collaboration, and developing concrete benchmarks for what competence looks like at various stages of skill acquisition.
This competency-based framework emphasizes setting measurable and observable goals. When goals are behavior-focused, progress can be tracked, and practitioners will understand and perceive leadership expertise in themselves and others. This approach involves establishing clear benchmarks and milestones for leadership competencies throughout a learner's interprofessional experience. This begins with a foundational understanding of the importance of a collaborative environment. Next, the identification of key behaviors and skills that define various levels of professional competence serves as a blueprint for learners to develop into highly capable professionals and effective leaders. The goal is to create skills for practice that are seamlessly integrated and recognizable by others on their team. This will empower learners to grow their leadership abilities while developing a professional identity. Through the use of competencies and goal-oriented behavior, leadership and interprofessional practice will be infused into their professional identity. This presentation is not to present the importance of interprofessional education, but is about building a blueprint for observable, measurable, collaborative practice that creates leaders and longevity.
