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Program promotes competence in gerontology

Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, February 24, 2006

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In some specialties, more than half the patients a nurse cares for are 65 or older, says Mathy Mezey, EdD, RN, FAAN, director of the John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing and the Independence Foundation Professor of Nursing Education at the New York University Division of Nursing. This fact, coupled with an aging population, has made it vital that nurses have the skills necessary to care for the elderly.

To address this issue, the Nurse Competence in Aging program, a five-year initiative funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies (USA) Inc., is working with specialty nursing associations to bring geriatric knowledge to their members and enhance nurses' competence in caring for older adults. As of June 2005, 41 organizations were participating.

The associations are given grants to kick-off activities to promote competence, such as online geriatric courses, workshops, and presentations. To reach out to nurses and offer education about geriatric care, the program also launched a Web site (http://geronurseonline.org) with resources about geriatric syndromes, and their possible causes and treatments. The Web site includes tools that nurses can download and use with patients, such as a depression scale and a fall risk-assessment form.

Source: AMN Healthcare

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