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Co-principal investigators Judy
M. Strayer, Ph.D., R.N., CNS, Professor and Chair, Department
of Nursing, and Eda Mikolaj, Ph.D., R.N., CNAA, CNS, teamed
up with Suzanne Stanek, M.S., R.N., FNP, to adapt a conventional
didactic nursing course into this innovative two credit online
undergraduate elective. Offered twice to date to upper level
nursing students, it continues to receive rave reviews. Unlike
any of the other Hartford awarded schools' newly created stand-alone
courses, this elective is devoted entirely to student attitude
development. Its creators report that in its original state
as a three hour elective without a clinical component, it
lacked methodology for encouraging an understanding of older
people. Students did not necessarily learn respect for the
elderly, and especially without any exposure to the well elderly,
they tended to maintain their stereotypic negative impressions
of the elderly as sick and needy. In its new improved form,
the course aims to sensitize nursing students to the aging
process, and to engender in them compassion for and positive
images of older adults. The course is intended to create life
long attitude change, and to set the stage for their students'
continued interest in and pursuit of gerontology nursing.
The course achieves this goal through two modules. Views
on Aging Through Literature and Art, created and taught
by Drs. Strayer and Stanek, strives to answer the question,
"What is the importance of surviving to old age?"
Students explore this issue by studying elder tale symbolism;
applying Jung's and Erickson's developmental tasks of aging
to these tales; using literature to examine coping with aging;
recognizing and respecting aging artists' struggles; and by
exploring healthy aging through the works of inspiring artists.
By examining how older people are depicted in western culture's
fairy tales, vs. how they are represented in eastern culture's
elder tales (Japan, China, Italy, Burma), students begin to
undue the damage done to their thinking through western indoctrination,
which tends to portray the elderly as frail, dependent, backward,
and without wisdom. Western fairy tales do not highlight accomplishments
of older citizens, and in fact have gone over the top to depict
them negatively, for instance as witches and giants. Eastern
fairy tales encourage respect for elders, and represent them
as possessing great wisdom, from whom the youth have much
to learn.
For the art component of the course, the instructors enlightened
their students about artists who painted in spite of their
aging, crippled bodies. Monet, with cataracts and near blindness
did his best paintings later in life. Renoir's arthritis that
he developed from inhaling lead based paint, rendered him
unable to hold a paintbrush, but he somehow managed to paint
his most superlative works with the paintbrush strapped to
his hand. Matisse, non-ambulatory from his colon cancer, directed
a long stick to arrange cut-outs on his wall. By educating
students about the phenomenal accomplishments of these elderly
and talented individuals, the instructors achieved their goal:
they bred positive feelings about the elderly in their students,
who in turn began directing this new found sensitivity toward
their elderly neighbors, grandparents and ultimately, to their
patients.
The International Perspectives on Issues on Aging
module, created and taught by Dr. Mikolaj, uses content from
the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) core
curriculum. Issues on Aging covers an introduction
to the subject of end of life; legal and ethical issues faced
by terminally ill patients and families; and quality of life
at the end of life. Activities include discussion of case
studies and a paper on a selected end of life issue.
The Hartford funding enabled the Otterbein School of Nursing
to build momentum to create/enhance innovative gerontology
curriculum. Otterbein created this course and several other
gerontology stand-alones, infused gerontology into their nursing
curriculum, and received several more gerontology curriculum
related grants. The instructors thoroughly enjoyed forging
new relationships with both their art history and English
literature departments, by borrowing expertise from these
disciplines. The course lent itself to an on-line format,
giving all students chances to participate, and to come up
with original well-planned ideas as they prepared for their
scheduled on-line discussions. Clearly, the benefits from
this course to Otterbein's nursing school and its students
are innumerable, and will continue indefinitely.
Syllabus
Student
Works
Lessons
Learned
Principal Investigator Contact Information:
Judy M. Strayer, Ph.D., R.N., CNS
Professor and Chair
Otterbein College
Department of Nursing
Science Hall, Rm 211
jstrayer@otterbein.edu
(614) 823-1614
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