Cheri Friedrich, DNP, RN, CPNP-PC, FNAP
Clinical Professor, Co-Director of Interprofessional Education / PNP Specialty Coordinator
University of Minnesota
Dr. Friedrich began her academic career at the University of Minnesota (UMN) School of Nursing in 1992, where she is currently a Clinical Professor and Coordinator of the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PNP)/Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist (PCNS) specialties. Dr. Friedrich’s innovative teaching draws on years of experience as a primary care PNP and interprofessional team member. She engages students using active learning strategies focused on development of critical reasoning skills and clinical competency. She practices and precepts students in an interprofessional Federally Qualified Health Center that serves un- and under-insured children and families in Anoka County. Dr. Friedrich persuasively advocates for interprofessional education. As a Co-Director of the Center for Interprofessional Health at the UMN she has been instrumental in co-leading efforts to create rich, interactive interprofessional teaching and learning strategies for UMN’s health sciences students. Dr. Friedrich’s novel Escape Room experiences are licensed and have been widely disseminated nationally and internationally to promote interprofessional learning.

Presenting at the Nexus Summit:

Estimates indicate over 95% of children in the United States regularly visit a pediatric provider and primary care is the only health care system attended by the vast majority of children before school enrollment. Approximately 40% of outpatient pediatric visits involve a mental or behavioral health concern. However, pediatric providers often lack training and confidence to diagnose and treat children’s mental health. Meanwhile, a critical shortage of child psychiatrists has existed for decades and is expected to worsen.Through interprofessional collaboration, faculty from the University of…
Learning Objectives: Describe a successful model of virtual teaching interprofessional concepts of teamwork and communication skills at the post-graduate level. Recognize the potential benefits of presenting interprofessional content on a virtual platform, and factors that influenced the decision to continue virtually rather than canceling the workshop Evaluate how learner perceptions of the virtual workshop compared to the in-person iteration via survey data. Discuss how the virtual workshop can be modified/adapted to achieve desired interprofessional competencies at your home…
Innovations are needed to advance interprofessional education and bridge the nexus to clinical practice. Preparing our health profession learners as collaborative practice-ready providers will require use of advanced technologies, novel educational models for authentic, community-engaged learning, and self-directed asynchronous opportunities to reflect on interprofessional competency development. Learners will become more effective team members if given opportunities to be part of a team during their education. The clinical learning environment can reinforce and extend development as an…