The Coalition of Geriatric Nursing Organizations represents over 20,000 geriatric nurses seeking to improve the health care of older adults across care settings and is supported by the John A. Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing, located at New York University.

The Coalition organized in October 2001 and chose two major issues for action that would affect older persons: 1) positively affecting the quality of long term care through improving and implementing the magnet nursing home project, Pioneer Network practices, and other quality programs or practices; and 2) facilitating the measurement of quality in long term care by supporting and advancing the Minimum Data Set, used in nursing homes, and other tools appropriate for the long term care setting, including quality indicators and measures derived from those instruments. While not limited to these areas, participating organizations agreed to concentrate our efforts on these issues as first steps.

The potential for the Coalition to make a positive impact on the care of older adults across the continuum is unbounded. Indeed, the Coalition of Geriatric Nursing Organizations is already taking leadership in shaping policy and legislation and improving regulations to benefit older adults.