The American Academy of Nursing
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 5, 2002 CONTACT:
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New Initiative on Geriatric Nursing Education Issues Formal Report Outlining Goals and Strategies
Washington, DC --Leaders in the academic nursing community have issued a formal report on goals and strategies to advance graduate level nursing education in gerontology. The report outlines many recommendations regarding the development of curriculum, creation of national standards in graduate level geriatric nursing and the development of a national repository of knowledge in the field. The final report, "Caring for Older Americans – Recommendations for Building a National Program for Graduate Nursing Education in Gerontology," is available on the program web site: www.geriatricnursing.org.
"With an aging population and a notable nursing shortage, building and strengthening gerontological nursing as an area of expertise and practice is important if we are to address obvious gaps in health care capacity," said Claire M. Fagin, PhD, RN, FAAN, director of the Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity program.
According to a study presented at the expert panel convened to develop this report, only 4,200 nurses (out of an estimated 70,000 - 80,000 advanced practice nurses) have been certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) as advanced practice gerontological nurses since 1991. Those 4,200 nurses include 3,400 geriatric nurse practitioners and 800 gerontological clinical nursing specialists.
"This report also articulates objectives and strategies to achieve the goal of increasing the numbers of gerontological nurse practitioners. There is clearly an urgent need, and this report spells out how we aim to grow the numbers in this field," said Fagin.
Developing and issuing this report is one component of the multi-faceted program, Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity, initiated in 2000 to comprehensively address a variety of needs in building geriatric nursing capacity. The five-year program is supported and funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation (JAHF). Coordinated by the American Academy of Nursing (AAN), the program is designed to develop geriatric nursing leaders through its Centers of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, its scholars program and other leadership building initiatives. The program is directed by Fagin, former Dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and an American Academy of Nursing Living Legend.
The John A. Hartford Foundation, Inc. (JAHF) of New York City is a private philanthropy established in 1929 by John A. Hartford. Mr. Hartford and his brother, George L. Hartford, both former chief executives of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, left the bulk of their estates to the foundation in the 1950s. Since 1995 the Foundation has focused extensively on enhancing the nation's capacity to provide effective and affordable care to its growing older adult population through grantmaking related to enhancing geriatric research and training, as well as grantmaking related to integrating and improving health services for older adults.
The American Academy of Nursing (AAN) represents leaders in nursing care who have been recognized for their outstanding contributions to the profession and to health care. The Academy was established in 1973 under the aegis of the American Nurses Association, the professional organization representing the nation's 2.7 million registered nurses.
For more information, contact Patricia D. Franklin, MSN, RN, Program Manager, at 202.651.7047 or pfrankli@ana.org.
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The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.7 million Registered Nurses through its constituent member nurses associations. The ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the rights of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
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