The Pennsylvania State University School of Nursing
University Park, Pennsylvania
Sarah Hall Gueldner, DSN, FAAN, Director; Carol Smith, DSN, Associate Director;
Judy Klinefelter, PhD, Professor in Charge of Undergraduate Programs;
Bonnie Ashcroft, MS, RN (Faculty Contact)
Phone: (814) 863-9245  Fax: (814) 865-3779  E-mail: bla1@psu.edu

Abstract
Gerontological nursing is woven throughout the baccalaureate curriculum at Penn State’s School of Nursing. Within the overall curriculum, health is viewed as a gestalt of wellness and illness that unfolds across the life span. Accordingly, health care of individuals and aggregates, including elders, is approached from a holistic, developmental perspective. One required course and two electives focus specifically on the older adult. Nursing Care of the Elderly, a 4-credit required course, places emphasis on normal aging processes, health promotion, disease prevention, and management of acute and chronic health problems. This course includes 75 hours of clinical experience, with 6 weeks in a skilled nursing facility, 4 weeks in a rehabilitation center, and 3 weeks in a variety of community-based settings. The two elder-specific electives are Medication and the Elderly Client (1 credit) and Independent Study in Gerontological Nursing (variable credit). Additional gerontological options open to students from other majors include Death and Dying, and Bioethical Issues in the Health and Human Development Professions. We are pleased that an increasing number of nursing students in the Honors Program are choosing to do their honors level coursework and thesis research on problems that particularly affect elderly populations. In keeping with our land-grant mission, our gerontological courses are offered at the University Park campus and at two extended locations 100 miles from the main campus. Supported by a grant of $10,000 from the Schreyer Institute for Innovative Learning, the Death and Dying course has been adapted for computer-enhanced learning.
Our baccalaureate students are also encouraged to take fullest advantage of resources and opportunities available through the Gerontology Center housed in our College.  For instance, an 18-credit Intercollegiate Undergraduate Minor in Gerontology is offered through the Center. Our Death and Dying course, which attracts up to 200 students from across disciplines each semester, counts toward that minor, and several other nursing courses can be applied to the minor upon request. Students are encouraged to develop interdisciplinary projects, and nursing students and students majoring in Kinesiology sometimes collaborate to promote exercise and strength training in older adults. Several nursing students and faculty also participate each year in an international gerontological exchange program implemented through the College and Gerontology Center.

Innovation
The most important innovation of our gerontological nursing curriculum is its developmental approach and the prominent focus on health as well as illness.  Other innovative features are the interdisciplinary enrichment that it enjoys and its delivery to three locations across geographically remote areas of Central Pennsylvania. More than half of our students participate in the weekly clinics operated by the School in an elderly housing unit in one of Pennsylvania’s most impoverished and under served rural communities, located in the heart of the Appalachian mountains.  It is anticipated that the education of future nurses within rural settings will encourage more graduates to practice with elderly clients in under served areas.

Replicability
Most aspects of the undergraduate gerontological nursing concentration offered at Penn State can be readily replicated in any setting.  The key is to think beyond illness and institutional care of elders toward innovative community-based health care that maximizes the potential for health and function even in the presence of considerable illness and disability.  The holistic human development approach enables students to develop a personal understanding of the health patterns and needs of all populations, especially the elderly.