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When the John A. Hartford Gerontology Nursing Education Project
funding became available in 2001, Dr. Phyllis Gendler, who
had been dean of Grand Valley State University's School of
Nursing for one year, and the sole gerontology specialist
on the faculty, jumped at the opportunity. Until that time,
she "could never get anyone to take gerontology seriously.
It was everywhere and nowhere." Dr. Gendler assembled
her grant team: three new faculty members, the Dean of Graduate
Studies and Grants (a gerontologist), and an independent-study
nursing student.
Grant team members, who were either new to the school or
to their faculty roles, shared excitement about developing
the college's gerontology-related curriculum. The group coalesced,
and now five years later, enjoys solid establishment in the
College of Nursing structure. Team members emerged as gerontology
champions, who used their newly evolved expertise toward enrichment
of the curriculum, and creation of: an advisory committee,
an inventive student/senior pairing program, and several new
clinical partnerships.
Grant team members became gerontology experts…
Grant team members who started this project as interested
participants, developed as gerontology nursing experts and
champions, by employing use of the JAHF resources and by engaging
in faculty development activities. They took advantage of
opportunities to present across the country, and by so doing,
became more and more credible, continuously building their
reputations both nationally and locally. They effectively
built a gerontology nursing curricular foundation at GVSU,
which functions significantly toward sustaining the grant's
innovations. Dr. Gendler reports that they overcame faculty
resistance by "taking baby steps and working within the
system."
Grant team members engaged in curriculum mapping…
The grant team, which enjoyed representation from each teaching
team, facilitated the mapping of the AACN Baccalaureate competencies
(Older Adults: Recommended Baccalaureate Competencies and
Curricular Guidelines for Geriatric Nursing Care) to the
existing curriculum. The team distributed the mapping tool
to the faculty, identified weaknesses in the undergraduate
curriculum and implemented integration strategies. The team
also posted an intranet site on Blackboard, making available
a myriad of geriatric assessment tools and resources.
Project investigator created advisory committee…
Dr. Gendler invited gerontology-related community members
from skilled nursing facilities, senior care retirement communities,
area agencies on aging etc., to participate on an advisory
committee. Interestingly, directors from these programs had
not habitually talked to one another-once on the committee
together however, they discovered a mutual need to communicate,
and worked together quite productively to identify optimal
student clinical placements. So excited did they become to
meet regularly, they now comprise post-grant, the largest
sub-group in the nursing college's multi-agency community
advisory council.
Grant team pursued longitudinal study…
The grant funding allowed Dr. Gendler to pursue a long standing
interest: instigation of a longitudinal study-named the "LEI,"
or Longitudinal Elder Initiative. She'd been concerned for
many years re: lack of student opportunity for patient/caregiver
relationship building. In their clinical placements, students
tend to have short term relationships with their clientele.
"Students gain confidence in their abilities by developing
relationships over time and seeing patients improve as a result
of their interventions," reports Dr. Gendler. Students
learn a great deal by watching their elderly clients go through
physical changes over the four semester course time period.
Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist led LEI charge…
Hartford scholar and GCNS Cindy Beel-Bates joined the grant
team as a consultant (now in her second year of a tenure track
position), and emerged as the LEI champion. She oversees all
aspects of the program's operation and helps with senior/student
pairings. Most of these senior citizens live in senior apartment
developments and represent underserved diverse populations.
The CON enjoys a solid relationship with the senior apartments'
management company, where one staffer advocates for the LEI
cause. The students visit their senior partners three to four
times per semester, over the four consecutive semester timeframe.
They achieve specific objectives per visit, relative to that
semester's course content (prevention, acute illness, chronic
illness, community health). Older citizens in this Michigan
community have become the LEI's best publicity. Those who
have not yet benefited ask, "How can I get one of those
nurses?"
Grant provided opportunity to diversify clinical settings…
The LEI remains the CON's most outstanding clinical experience.
Additionally, in all four clinical courses, students are placed
in settings across the continuum of care, to include: independent
living senior apartments and homes, adult day programs, assisted
living residences, nursing homes, long term acute care units,
acute care for the elderly units, hospice, visiting nursing
agencies, outpatient clinics, primary care settings, and inpatient
hospital units with primarily older adult populations.
Conclusion:
Clearly, the JAHF funding ignited an explosion of gerontology
related curriculum development on the Grand Valley campus.
The College of Nursing now boasts a gerontology-rich cultural
environment that feeds on itself by continuously developing
gerontology-related faculty expertise, expanding programs,
and increasing community involvement. Faculty development
activities are slowly and systematically turning minds around,
creating broad support and participation. The numbers of elderly
citizens in this university community served by their longitudinal
study is growing at a rapid pace. Creative clinical placements
abound. Nursing schools contemplating gerontological curricular
change would be well served by following Grand Valley's fine
example.
Project Investigator Contact Information:
Phyllis Gendler, PhD, RN, NP
Dean, Kirkhof School of Nursing
Grand Valley State University
Cook DeVos Center for Health Sciences
Room 458
301 Michigan St.NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503-3314
Office Phone: 616-331-7185
EMail: gendlerp@gvsu.edu
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