With her John A. Hartford Foundation funding,
Elizabeth Towner PhD, distance faculty member, project
director, and professional consultant, created both an
on-line gerontological nursing self-assessment tool and
eight on-line gerontological study modules.
Dr. Towner created the Self Assessment
of Geriatric Knowledge for Western University Health
Sciences Center's incoming FNP students. Western's FNP
program attracts mostly practicing students who are several
years separated from undergraduate nursing programs that
most probably did not adequately address gerontological
nursing basics, in the first place. Additionally, most
patients for whom these nurses now care, are in fact elderly,
Dr. Towner notes. Furthermore, AACN's statement (published
in document mentioned below) supported her cause by addressing
the need for creation of a set of geriatric BSN competencies.
Dr. Towner considered all of these factors when she created
this self assessment tool. It sizes up her students' geriatric
knowledge base, and provides lists of on-line resources
for their use.
AACN had just published the document, Older Adults:
Recommended Baccalaureate Competencies and Curricular
Guidelines for Geriatric Nursing Care. She used content
from this document to produce this unique gerontological
nursing self-assessment tool. Sanctioned by the Dean,
the self-assessment survey rapidly became a requirement
for all incoming FNP students. Many of these students,
post-assessment express the sentiment, "I didn't
know what I didn't know!" reports Dr. Towner. She
commented that their jobs, whether in critical care, emergency
room, acute or general surgery, show them that the elderly
are prominent among their patient populations. These FNP
students tend to have enough maturity to be open-minded
about learning gerontological nursing, as well.
Dr. Towner employed the services of expert
consultant Dr. Meg Wallhagen, geriatric nurse practitioner
at the University of California at San Francisco, who
helped write test objectives and review the self-assessment
tool. Dr. Wallhagen emphasized that students must not
make assumptions about the elderly, each one an individual
in a unique situation, who must be evaluated accordingly.
She encourages students to understand the elderly patient's
specific physical and emotional needs, which set him/her
apart from the younger adult patient. The properly prepared
operating room nurse understands that her vulnerable elderly
patient will do better medically if she establishes a
solid trusting relationship with him/her during their
short time together. The primary care nurse tries to ward
off her susceptible patient's downward spiral by finding
ways to boost his ego and help him see his adequacies.
The Hartford grant also inspired Concepts
in Geriatric Care, a self-administered, online gerontological
nursing module series that instructs family nurse practitioners
in geriatric care concepts, and that will eventually become
incorporated into FNP curricula. Dr. Towner remains quite
excited about the potential uses of these modules. After
all, nursing schools across the country are experiencing
a graduate faculty shortage, and working students have
little time for pursuit of conventional didactic masters'
programs. The timing is perfect for these on-line modules
that will allow online access to content in many master's
degree programs that would otherwise not be possible.
The modules, which free up classroom time and reduce faculty
preparation time, may be completed independently by students.
Module topics are: growing needs of the
geriatric population; financing health care for the elderly;
ethical practice in eldercare; development and support
of interdisciplinary teams; and management of the elderly
patient. Eight complete modules will be available to nursing
programs as supplements to their current curricula or
as continuing education units. The patient management
module involves use of four case studies and guided decision
making, and asks questions like, "What treatment
would you recommend? Why? What would you expect to see
as a result?" It includes links to research and other
literature that describes in depth the treatment of each
disease featured in each case study.
Overviews of each module and a detailed
description of and access to the self assessment tool
can be found on Western's
Geriatric Concepts web site.
Thank goodness Dr. Towner, who actually
resides in Ashland, Oregon decided to hook up as distance
faculty with California's Western University Health Sciences
Center. Clearly, her self-assessment survey and on-line
modules are laying the groundwork for continued progress
in gerontological nursing curricular innovations.
