2001 Honorable Mention Award

Wilkes University Department of Nursing
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Mary Ann Merigan, PhD, RN, Chairperson; Sharon G. Telban, DEd, RNC, Coordinator,
Gerontological Component, Master of Science in Nursing (Faculty Contact)
Phone: (570) 408-4071 Fax: (570) 408-7807 E-mail: telban@wilkes.edu

Abstract
        The philosophy of the Department of Nursing at Wilkes University encompasses the paradigm of nursing in a holistic sense. The focus on individuals within family units, within the greater community, provides the foundation for all practice courses. The Mission of the University addresses the needs of the greater community and the development of resources within the region. The surrounding geographical area includes the second highest concentration of older adults in the nation. The direction provided by this twin philosophical underpinning is reflected in the curriculum of the nursing program. Nursing courses present normal human developmental processes, promoting health as well as introducing alterations from the healthy state. Human development with its accompanying crises and common maladies undergirds each clinical course. Clinical courses begin in the sophomore year and extend for six sequential semesters. The senior nursing student enters the seventh semester with the skills and nursing knowledge prepared to meet the complex needs of the older adult in a variety of settings. In this required, 8-credit course, the student meets older adults in the community as well, independent individuals; in the home health setting; and as the frailest of elders in the nursing home. The course content embraces normal age changes, problems inherent in the elderly population, the alternatives for living arrangements available, financial resources, retirement, to the ultimate end of a long life-dying and hospice care. There are 56 hours of didactic lecture and discussion as well as 168 clinical practice hours in the course. The baccalaureate students in our program are made aware of the breadth of services available to meet the needs of elders as well as prevention activities which promote healthy aging.

Innovation
        The innovative application of the nursing process throughout the curriculum with its developmental sequence has been noted as a strength of the program as well as a vehicle for the efficient and effective utilization of community resources for practice. This course encompasses care of elders in the community as well as in institutions. The students plan and implement a free Health Fair for a defined population of older citizens. The student is provided the opportunity to discuss end-of-life issues as well as the special vulnerabilities of the older adult. This experience provides a breadth of practice not usually seen by baccalaureate students. Informal surveys, over time, reveal that student attitudes about aging become more positive at course end than at course beginning.

Replication
        As this course is a large portion of the clinical course structure of our curriculum, it can be adapted to other curricula. It is the focus on the older adult that is unique. It is not subsumed within discussion of the adult nor addressed minimally in courses which focus on multiple populations. The ability to provide the breadth of practice is essential to its success. The ability to identify strengths of elders assists nurses in other settings to better plan care for their patients.