The role of the nursing home in nursing research of the elderly.
The greatest repository of knowledge of the elderly lies in the nursing home setting. Nurses who work in nursing homes acknowledge that the knowledge base that directs their practice is gerontological knowledge and over time they have evolved the most sophisticated care for older persons. Much of this care has evolved in trial and error response to needs. Many of the interventions have not been tested in rigorous research and therefore are difficult to justify in an atmosphere of cost cutting. Nursing home nurses have, therefore, a responsibility to be forerunners in the generation, testing and dissemination of the body of gerontological nursing knowledge to guide effective and efficient nursing practice with older persons. In a time of decreased resources this is no small challenge. To suggest approaches to encourage long term care research this article will explore the literature in this area, relate knowledge gained from the teaching nursing home projects and share the experience of a Director of Nursing in fostering research in a teaching nursing home setting without outside funding.
McCracken
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Torgersen
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D000368:Aged; D005851:Geriatric Nursing; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D009735:Nursing Homes; D015399:Nursing Research; D012380:Role