Converging Currents of Power in Teams: A Vision for Healing and Connection

Friday, May 30, 2025   8:00 - 9:30 CDT

Laura Nimmon

Dr. Laura Nimmon is a Scientist at the Centre for Health Education Scholarship (CHES) and Associate Professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada. Dr. Nimmon is an award-winning researcher whose work draws on a range of social theories for others to see social context anew and enlarge scholarly approaches to interprofessional education and collaborative practice. Her work that explores the social dynamics of power in healthcare in has been published in leading journals (Science, AAAS) and mentioned in major news outlets around the world, including the Los Angeles Times, the Times of India, San Jose Mercury News, and the Boston Herald. Dr. Nimmon is an Associate Editor for the journal Perspectives on Medical Education. She is recipient of the University of British Columbia (UBC) Faculty of Medicine Award for excellence in mentoring early career faculty and of the Canadian Association for Medical Education (CAME) Champion Award for advocacy, role modeling and mentorship of early career researchers. 

 

Power imbues all human relationships. Thus, power exerts influence in all interprofessional practice where it can undermine collaboration and, therefore, health outcomes. Despite real-world understanding of power and its implications being critical for enabling effective collaboration there is a dearth of interprofessional education curricula and research centered on power. Thus, learners are underprepared to navigate the complexity of power in collaborative practice. In this plenary, I will draw on my research that reveals how power flows through networks of healthcare teams and can corrupt or enable group function. Using social network analysis from the field of sociology, the definition of teams is expanded to include diverse professionals, patients, families, and community team members. I will explain how power can flow hierarchically and predictably, but can also pivot when interfacing with other systems of power. The session will close with a vision for interprofessional education and collaborative care that is centered on connection where power is a force that binds and heals. In doing so, educators, clinicians, researchers, policy makers, patients/family partners and students will gain knowledge about the capacity for power to build caring health professions education, policy and healthcare systems that will strengthen collaborative practice and improve health outcomes.  

Learning Objectives:

• Learn models that expand team structures and incorporate individuals, families, and their communities, along with diverse professionals, in collaborative care.
• Apply social science theoretical models to understand human behavior, culture, and social dynamics to improve IPE and teamwork.
• Gain knowledge about relational approaches to IPE and teamwork that nurture the force of power to foster a resilient and connected working environment.