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American
Association of Colleges of Nursing Awarded Grant to
Strengthen Geriatric Nursing
Education Programs The John
A. Hartford Foundation Supports National Effort
to Improve Health Care for
Older Adults WASHINGTON,
D.C., June 18, 2001 - The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) has
received a $3.99 million grant from The John A. Hartford Foundation of New York
that champions innovation in geriatric nursing education programs nationwide.
Designed to spark curriculum development and new clinical experiences in both
baccalaureate and advanced practice nursing programs, the grant will enable nursing
students to develop the specialized skills needed to provide high quality care
to older adults. "We applaud
the Hartford Foundation's effort to improve the delivery of health care to our
nation's aging population through nursing education," stated Dr. Carolyn
A. Williams, AACN President and Dean of the University of Kentucky's School of
Nursing. "Grant funds will be used to prepare professional nurses to meet
the specific health care needs of older adults." The
grant allows for funding to be dispersed to up to 20 baccalaureate and 10 advanced
practice nursing programs nationwide. The selected award recipients will generate
a broad array of products and models that will be disseminated to the full body
of collegiate nursing programs that includes 661 baccalaureate and 382 graduate
programs. In the area of undergraduate
education, the grant will assist nursing schools in adapting their gerontology
curriculum based upon national education and practice standards, such as those
developed by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and The John
A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing in collaboration with AACN.
Funds will be disseminated to institutions that provide an innovative plan of
action that reflects these nationally recognized benchmarks for effective gerontological
nursing education. In a parallel
initiative for graduate programs, the grant allows for the development of a set
of core gerontological competencies for all advanced practice nurses who provide
care to older adults but are not specialists in gerontology. In addition, funds
will be awarded to schools to integrate these newly identified competencies into
advanced practice nursing programs and to develop models of excellence that may
be adopted by the broader graduate nursing education community. Both
graduate and undergraduate programs may receive funding under this grant of up
to $90,000 over a three-year period. Participating schools will be required to
provide in-kind support in the amount of $50,000. Selected sites will be encouraged
to seek additional support from an array of community-based agencies that provide
care to the older adult such as long-term care facilities, hospice organizations,
adult day care, home care, and assisted living facilities. "This
generous award will enable schools of nursing to forge new partnerships between
the educational and practice settings to better prepare nurses for the profession,"
added Williams. "AACN will use this opportunity to magnify the innovations
in gerontological care resulting from this grant initiative to see that resources
and models are mirrored in the fuller community of nursing programs." The
American Association of Colleges of Nursing is the national voice for university
and four-year-college education programs in nursing. Representing more than 550
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. The
John A. Hartford Foundation, Inc. of New York City is a private philanthropy established
in 1929 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.
Prior to 1979, the Foundation primarily supported clinically-oriented biomedical
research projects. Subsequently, it focused its support on improving the quality
and financing of health care and enhancing the capacity of the health care system
to accommodate the nation's growing elderly population. Since 1995 the Foundation
has focused extensively on enhancing the nation's capacity to provide effective
and affordable care to its growing older adult population, by current grantmaking
related to enhancing geriatric research and training (physicians, nurses, social
workers), and integrating and improving health services for older adults. CONTACT:
Robert Rosseter
(202) 463-6930, x231
rrosseter@aacn.nche.edu
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