The John A. Hartford Foundation Awards New Funding to
AACN
to Support Faculty Development in Geriatric Nursing
New Initiative Will
Create Champions for Geriatric Nursing Education
at Most U.S. Nursing Schools Offering Baccalaureate Programs
WASHINGTON, D.C., August 9, 2005: The American Association
of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is pleased to announce that
The John A. Hartford Foundation has generously awarded
the organization a $2.6 million grant to support a new
initiative titled Enhancing Gerontology
Content in Baccalaureate Programs. Funding will
be used to prepare a cadre of nursing faculty with the
necessary knowledge, skills and resources to strengthen
geriatric content in senior-level baccalaureate program
courses. Nurse educators completing this program will
be expected to share their new expertise with their faculty
colleagues as well as students preparing to enter the
nursing workforce.
“AACN is very grateful to the Hartford
Foundation for their strong commitment to supporting geriatric
nursing education and their efforts to improve the quality
of health care and patient safety,” said AACN President
Jean E. Bartels, PhD, RN. “This new initiative will
allow AACN to reach hundreds of nurse educators in baccalaureate
nursing programs who will in turn prepare thousands of
new nurses with the skills needed to provide the best
care possible to older adults.”
The new Enhancing Gerontology Content grant
will focus on faculty development as a necessary precursor
to successfully implementing and sustaining enhancements
in nursing education programs. This initiative builds
on a previous Hartford Foundation-AACN effort to stimulate
the creation of geriatric-focused curricula for baccalaureate
and graduate nursing programs. The new grant will cultivate
faculty who have knowledge in geriatrics; are able to
recognize and integrate geriatric content into undergraduate
curriculum; and foster positive attitudes about aging.
Using a train-the-trainer approach, nursing faculty will
be prepared to lead their colleagues in “gerontologizing”
senior-level curricula as well as teaching and mentoring
students in the care of older adults.
“This important initiative will prepare
nursing educators to serve as champions for geriatric
education who are able to train fellow faculty and oversee
curriculum revisions at their home institutions,”
said Hartford Foundation Senior Program Officer Donna
I. Regenstreif, PhD. “The Foundation is pleased to
be working with AACN on providing the nursing workforce
with the unique skills and resources needed to provide
excellent geriatric care.”
AACN will issue a Call for Applications
in January 2006 for baccalaureate nursing programs interested
in participating in this program. For more information
about the geriatric nursing education initiatives supported
by AACN and the Hartford Foundation, see http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Education/Hartford/index.htm.
For details about other gerontological nursing programs
supported by the Foundation, see http://www.hgni.org.
The American Association of Colleges
of Nursing (AACN) is the national voice for university
and four-year-college education programs in nursing. Representing
more than 585 member schools of nursing at public and
private institutions nationwide, AACN's educational, research,
governmental advocacy, data collection, publications,
and other programs work to establish quality standards
for bachelor's and graduate-degree nursing education,
assist deans and directors to implement those standards,
influence the nursing profession to improve health care,
and promote public support of baccalaureate and graduate
nursing education, research, and practice. For more information
about AACN, see www.aacn.nche.edu.
Founded in 1929, The John A. Hartford
Foundation is a committed champion of training, research
and service system innovations that promote the health
and independence of America’s older adults. Through
its grantmaking, the Foundation seeks to strengthen the
nation’s capacity to provide effective, affordable
care to this rapidly increasing older population by educating
“aging-prepared” health professionals (physicians,
nurses, social workers), and developing innovations that
improve and better integrate health and supportive services.
The Foundation was established 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
upon their deaths in the 1950s. Additional information
about the Foundation and its programs are available at
www.jhartfound.org.
# # #
