1. Adminstrative support is essential to
curricular change, especially when initiating stand-alone
gerontological nursing courses.
2. For faculty to value creation of a stand-alone gerontological
nursing course, the following are necessary:
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They must recognize gerontology as a
separate, unique body of knowledge.
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They must acknowledge that patients
served by most students will be largely older adults.
3. Clinical experiences with healthy older adults are
key to improving student attitudes toward older people.
4. Student debates in the classroom work well to inspire
student thought regarding several difficult issues facing
their aging patients.
5. Combining nursing fundamentals with gerontological
nursing concepts communicates to students that learning
to care for older adults is foundational to nursing. To
be successful, however, subsequent nursing courses must
build on a foundational content in the sophomore course
and integrate more complex gerontological nursing knowledge
throughout the curriculum.
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