The Arizona Nexus: the first five years

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ABSTRACT

Arizona Nexus is a pioneer Nexus Innovations Network (NIN) member with the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education (National Center) and a statewide collaborative with members from five public and private universities and six health care organizations in Arizona. The Arizona Nexus grew from the request of interprofessional champions at two public state universities, Arizona State University (ASU) and the University of Arizona (UA), to be part of the University of Minnesota’s application and vision for the first National Center cohort. Culture change, shared vision, resources, and leadership are factors that have been in play in the development and growth of the Arizona Nexus. In this case study, we tell the story of the Arizona Nexus, key landmarks in its development and how these four factors contributed to its growth and success. For the Arizona Nexus, the next five years and beyond will embody action. Building from the hard-won and exciting foundation we have built in our first five years, we are determined to accelerate the growth of interprofessional practice and education, inspire continued growth of academic and clinical partnerships, and use the knowledge, skills and creative thinking of all professions to improve and transform health care.

KEYWORDS:

• Case study
• interprofessional collaboration
• interprofessional education
• interprofessional practice
• leadership
• team culture

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the contributions of Arizona Nexus project leaders, practice partners, education partners, and health professions students who collaborate in shared vision and passion to improve and transform health.

Declaration of interest

The work of the Arizona Nexus was supported in part with pioneer seed funding provided by the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education (Subaward No. 392814). The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Additional information

Funding

The work of the Arizona Nexus was supported in part with pioneer seed funding provided by the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education (Subaward No. 392814).