University Archives

Maternal mortality remains a critical public health concern in the United States, with communication breakdowns contributing to preventable perinatal deaths. Integrating doulas into healthcare teams is an emerging strategy to improve patient-centered care. This DNP project addressed gaps in interprofessional collaboration by applying IPEC competencies to strengthen communication, role clarity, and teamwork between doulas and healthcare providers. A virtual, interactive workshop with 28 participants utilized case scenarios, discussions, and polling. Pre- and post-surveys, including the Assessment of Interprofessional Team Collaboration Scale-II (AITCS-II), and qualitative feedback were used to evaluate outcomes. Collaboration scores were high at baseline with no significant change, likely due to a ceiling effect. Qualitative findings revealed improved role clarity, strong engagement, and identification of barriers, including gaps in doula referral practices and ongoing structural and communication challenges. While quantitative outcomes remained stable, the project successfully surfaced critical barriers and advanced interprofessional collaboration, supporting the integration of doulas to improve maternal care.  This work positions nurses as system-level change agents and offers a replicable framework for improving maternal safety, team performance, and patient-centered outcomes across interprofessional healthcare settings.