2002 First Place Award
Lubbock, Texas
Alexia Green, RN, PhD, Dean
Ana
M. Valadez, RN, EdD, CNAA, FAAN (Contact Faculty)
Tracey
Woodward, RN, MSN
Phone:
(806) 743-2279 Fax: (806) 743-1697 E-mail: ana.valadez@ttuhsc.edu
Abstract. The School
of Nursing at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center did an in depth
analysis of their undergraduate curriculum to ascertain if and where in the
curriculum care of the elderly was being addressed. The document, Older
Adults: Recommended Baccalaureate Competencies and Curricular Guidelines for
Geriatric Nursing Care, published by AACN and The John A. Hartford Foundation
Institute for Geriatric Nursing in 2000, was the blueprint used by the task
force to determine geriatric content that was needed in the curriculum. The
outcomes resulting from the analysis include: 1) A new three hour didactic and
clinical course on Healthy Aging is now required for all beginning students; 2)
A module addressing medication therapy for the elder patient/client was
developed; 3) A 30 hour practicum in long term care was added to the senior
level; and 4) geriatric content previously integrated throughout the curriculum
was reevaluated and strengthened where needed.
Innovation. In the
year 2000, the TTUHSC established the Institute on Healthy Aging. The Institute provided oversight for
geriatric programs related to curriculum, continuing education, research and
scholarship. Subsequent monies were
garnered from the Agency on Aging to begin several intensive initiatives
related to Aging. The first of the
initiatives included analyses of all TTUHSC
curriculums related to geriatrics.
The curriculum analyses for the SON revealed that elder content was
loosely woven into the majority of nursing courses and inclusion of the content
was dependent upon the interest of the faculty member assigned to the
course. To begin to address the paucity
of elder content in the undergraduate nursing curriculum, a task force was
established to address the identified curriculum deficits related to elder
care. In the summer of 2001, a
stand-alone course on Healthy Aging was added to the first semester of the
nursing curriculum, and a module on geriatric pharmacology was added to the
existing pharmacology course.
Thirty-two percent of the students completing the Healthy Aging course
in summer of 2001, expressed an interest in practicing geriatric nursing upon
graduation and/or enrolling in the geriatric nurse practitioner tract upon
completion of their baccalaureate program.
Another significant event that impacted the nursing
geriatric curriculum is the Teaching Nursing Home concept that began in 1998
and is now a reality. The building of
the teaching nursing home offers all TTUHSC schools the opportunity to have
students acquire some of their geriatric experience using an interdisciplinary
approach. To this end, the SON wrote a
grant to HRSA for integration of long-term concepts in the baccalaureate
nursing program. Specifically, senior
level nursing students enrolled in the “Advanced Clinical Concepts” course will
receive 30 hours of their clinical practicum at the nursing home.
Replication. The TTUHSCSON benefited from strong Health Science Center administrative support related to the priority of aging initiatives for the West Texas region during fiscal year 2000. Funded federal grants through the Agency on Aging provided monies for curriculum assessment and development, purchase of current audiovisuals, journals and the establishment of geriatric nursing fellowships to enhance faculty development. However, individual schools of nursing could easily assess their current curriculum utilizing the publication, Older Adults: Recommended Baccalaureate Competencies and Curricular Guidelines for Geriatric Nursing Care (2000) to develop the stand-alone course on Healthy Aging, the module on pharmacology, and the Advanced Clinical Concepts course. The selection of appropriate activities and clinical practice sites reinforces the didactic content. The most essential component for the development of a geriatric focus within the curriculum is administrative support from within the SON that promotes curricular modifications to address the aging population.