An innovative interprofessional rural mental health education model for baccalaureate nursing students

Background/Objective: Interprofessional collaboration is an essential skill for high-quality healthcare delivery, particularly for serving members of vulnerable populations who are managing stigmatized conditions, such as mental health disorders.  As part of a primary care-focused nursing education grant, faculty created the Interprofessional Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) Experience (ICE) for nursing students. This interprofessional experience focused on educating students on team-based care for people managing mental health conditions and substance use disorders in rural areas.Methods: ICE partnered registered nurses, providers, faculty, and graduate counseling students with 56 undergraduate nursing students, providing students with interprofessional mental health-focused clinical experiences in federally-designated Rural Health Clinics (RHCs).Results: Fifty-six nursing grant scholars participated in ICE. Students reported that they found ICE to be valuable.Conclusions: ICE provided nursing students with an interprofessional, team-based immersion experience, allowing them to develop an understanding of the complex mental health needs of people in underserved rural communities.