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Need for Geriatric Nurses Growing
By
Anita Weier, Capital Times
February
2, 2008
As the population of the
Upper Midwest ages, more nurses trained in geriatric care are needed for
the elderly.
A cooperative program among 25 colleges in the area is being developed
with a $1.5 million grant to the University of Minnesota from the John A.
Hartford Foundation to develop a Hartford UM Center for Geriatric Nursing
Excellence.
Nine Wisconsin institutions participating include Edgewood College and the
University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The Minnesota-based center will focus on increasing the number of quality
faculty who will provide academic leadership and expertise in geriatric
nursing at colleges and universities in the Upper Midwest as well as
tribal colleges across the nation.
North Dakota and South Dakota have the highest proportions of adults 65
and older; Minnesota and Wisconsin rank in the top 15 states in the nation
for adults 85 and older. And the Baby Boomers are coming.
The Hartford Center is developing a summer education program, a nursing
mentorship program and an American Indian Nurse Faculty and Tribal College
Initiative -- all aimed at increasing the number of faculty with geriatric
nursing expertise.
"This new center will be a resource to all of the Upper Midwest
nursing programs in terms of teaching geriatric nursing care," said
Jean Wyman, director of the Minnesota Hartford Center, which received the
grant last year.
The center aims to increase the number of new and existing nursing faculty
members who can strengthen geriatric nursing at all levels of academic
nursing programs.
Colleen Gullickson, a professor in the School of Nursing at Edgewood
College, will represent the college in the Hartford effort.
"The purpose of the grant is to improve or supplement or have a
collective discussion about ways to improve geriatric education in the
nursing curriculum," Gullickson said. "This is a topic that is
talked about a lot but not always implemented."
Barbara Bowers, associate dean for research at the UW-Madison School of
Nursing, is participating in the center because of her interest in aging
and long-term care.
"This is really a consortium, an effort to pool the resources from a
lot of colleges and universities," she said.
"There is a fair amount of expertise here and other schools will
offer theirs as well. I foresee educational materials and conferences.
This is a cooperative time- and cost-efficient way of making expertise
available."
Representatives of the schools of nursing that are members of the Upper
Midwest Geriatric Nursing Alliance will go to the University of Minnesota
in May for learning and brainstorming. They will also receive online
educational opportunities and educational materials for faculty.
Health care professionals are concerned about the lack of nurses and
nursing faculty who will have to deal with a huge surge in the number of
elderly people in the United States, including a particularly high number
in the Upper Midwest.
State officials previously estimated that Wisconsin needs 2,430 registered
nurses to enter the work force each year until 2012 but, in 2004, only
1,755 nursing graduates took the state exam to become registered nurses.
The nursing shortage may be especially severe in geriatric nursing,
Gullickson said.
"The prestige level of nurses in the geriatric area is relatively
low, probably the lowest. The prestige is in the ICU, emergency room,
trauma and other fields. We have to change that perception. Students think
of it as long-term care, but only 5 percent of geriatric patients are in
long-term care; the rest are in the community."
Founded in 1929, the New York City-based John A. Hartford Foundation
focuses on training, research and service system innovations that promote
the health and independence of America's older adults.
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