title: Improving the quality of geriatric nursing care: enduring outcomes from the geriatric nursing education consortium.
abstract: The nation's aging demography, few nursing faculty with gerontological nursing expertise, and insufficient geriatric content in nursing programs have created a national imperative to increase the supply of nurses qualified to provide care for older adults. Geriatric Nursing Education Consortium (GNEC), a collaborative program of the John A. Hartford Foundation, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, and the New York University (NYU) Nursing Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing, was initiated to provide faculty with the necessary skills, knowledge, and competency to implement sustainable curricular innovations in care of older adults. This article describes the background, step-by-step process approach to the development of GNEC evidence-based curricular materials, and the dissemination of these materials through 6-, 2-, and a half-day national Faculty Development Institutes (FDIs). Eight hundred eight faculty, representing 418 schools of nursing, attended. A total of 479 individuals responded to an evaluation conducted by Baruch College that showed faculty feasibility to incorporate GNEC content into courses, confidence in teaching and incorporating content, and overall high rating of the GNEC materials. The impact of GNEC is discussed along with effects on faculty participants over 2 years. Administrative- and faculty-level recommendations to sustain and expand GNEC are highlighted.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Former Senior Consultant to the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing and John A. Hartford Post-Doctoral Fellow, Rutgers University College of Nursing, Newark, NJ 07102. Electronic address: dmiceli@rutgers.edu.
authors.forename: Deanna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gray-Miceli
authors.affiliation: Research Instructor in Nursing, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20036. Electronic address: ldwilson@email.gwu.edu.
authors.forename: Laurie Dodge
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Senior Director of Education Policy, American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Washington, DC 20036. Electronic address: jstanley@aacn.nche.edu.
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stanley
authors.affiliation: Senior Program Officer, John A. Hartford Foundation, New York, NY 10022. Electronic address: Rachael.watman@jhartfound.org.
authors.forename: Rachael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Watman
authors.affiliation: Consultant, Research and Evaluation, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Electronic address: apshire1@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shire
authors.affiliation: Robert P. Luciano Professor of Health Care Policy, School of Public Affairs, Baruch College, City University of New York, New York, N.Y.. Electronic address: Shoshanna.sofaer@baruch.cuny.edu.
authors.forename: Shoshanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sofaer
authors.affiliation: Professor Emeritus, Senior Research Scientist, Associate Director, the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing, New York University College of Nursing, New York, NY 10003. Electronic address: Mm5@nyu.edu.
authors.forename: Mathy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mezey
mesh_terms: D003710:Demography; D005181:Faculty, Nursing; D005260:Female; D005851:Geriatric Nursing / Q000193:education; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011787:Quality of Health Care
keywords: Baccalaureate nursing; Faculty development; Geriatric nursing education