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Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 26(3), 248-256. 

Millions of Americans have unmet oral healthcare needs and profound oral health disparities persist in vulnerable and underserved populations, especially poor children, older adults, and racial and ethnic minorities. Nurses can play a significant role in improving the quality of oral healthincluding access to care with appropriate education and training. The purpose of this paper is to describe New York University College of Nursing's response to this challenge.

 Journal of the Academy of Distinguished Educators, 2(1):12-14.

In 2005, New York University Colleges of Dentistry and Nursing formed an organizational partnership to create a unique model of interprofessionaleducation, research, service and practice. This paper describes the first eight years of experience, from the early reaction of the public to the partnership, to examples of success and past and current challenges.

In order to increase the body of empirical data on health care teams, a three year study of faculty and student teams who participated in the Team-TRAC Program at the University of Nevada, Reno,was undertaken. Three research methods were employed: participant observation, survey and self-report, and interaction analysis.

This paper describes the efforts of one medical school - The School of Medical Sciences of the University of Nevada, Reno - to institute an interdisciplinary educational program for students in the health field aimed at promoting better communication and collaboration in care.

The complex issues which health care teams face have contributed to the demise of a number of teams and to the disenchantment of many individuals, who voice a litany of complaints, including fatigue, frustration, interpersonal conflict, energy drain, burnout, and rapid turnover associated with teams. If health care teams are to avoid such pitfalls and gain acceptance, they will have to learn to attend to their own maintenance needs, both internal and external.

The origins and development of interdisciplinary health care teams in the US is traced from World War II successes with multidisciplinary medical and surgical teams to President Johnson's vision of The Great Society, in which the poor and underserved would have access to benefits of good health through the creation of community health centers located in areas of need. The concept of interdisciplinary teams of health professionals was espoused as a means for providing comprehensive and continuous care to such populations.

Clear communication is considered the sine qua non of effective teamwork. Breakdowns in communication resulting from interprofessional conflict are believed to potentiate errors in the care of patients, although there is little supportive empirical evidence. In 1999, we surveyed a national, multi-specialty sample of 6,106 residents (64.2% response rate). Three questions inquired about "serious conflict" with another staff member.

Although clinicians and researchers often rely on family members 'reports of a wide range of dying patients' symptoms and care preferences, available data indicate divergences between the two. We used a national sample to analyze patient-caregiver pairs to explore areas of concordance and nonconcordance about physical symptoms, communication with physicians, caregiving needs, and future fears. We also assessed whether identifiable patient or caregiver characteristics were associated with nonconcordance.