Should Nurse Practitioner Programs Share Courses?

Educating them together has obvious advantages, including cost savings, leveraging expertise, and forging bonds across specialties that enhance clinical training and, ideally, professional practice after students graduate. Working across specialties also enhances students’ ability to problem solve in teams, an important skill that will be useful as the health care arena transitions to team-based care across disciplines in the future.COUNTERPOINT Cheri L. Friedrich Cheri L Friedrich, DNP, CPNP-PC, is a clinical associate professor at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing in Minneapolis where she also coordinates the pediatric nurse practitioner area of study. [...]smaller cohorts foster enhanced engagement and build strong support and networking bonds that can and do persist beyond the educational arena.