Nurse Competence In Aging Grants Awarded to 12 National Specialty Nursing Associations: Goal is to improve the quality of health care delivered to older adults

Alabama Nurse, Sep-Nov 2003

Washington, DC - The American Nurses Association. (ANA) has announced the awarding of the first 12 grants in the Nurse Competence in Aging initiative. Nurse Competence in Aging is a five-year initiative, funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies (USA) Inc., awarded to ANA through the American Nurses Foundation and representing a strategic alliance among ANA, the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and the John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing, New York University, The Steinhardt School of Education, Division of Nursing. The goal of the campaign is to improve the quality of health care to older adults by enhancing the geriatric competence - the attitudes, knowledge and skills - of nurses who are members of specialty nursing associations.

"The need for a workforce prepared to deliver quality health care to the nation's aging population has never been more critical," said ANA President Barbara A. Blakeney, MS, APRN,BC, ANP. "Awarding these 12 grants represents an important step in our efforts to meet the needs of older adults, the largest users of health care," she added.

In 2002, persons 65 and older made up 13 percent of the U.S. population. By 2030, the older population will more than double to about 70 million people, or 20 percent of the population. Few of the nation's 2.2 million practicing-registered nurses have received any preparation in geriatrics, either in their educational program or on the job. Less than one percent of the nurses in the U.S. are certified by the ANCC as gerontological nurses and only three percent of all master's prepared nurses are certified by the ANCC as geriatric nurse practitioners and clinical specialists (approximately 300 graduates per year).

"These numbers fall far short of our needs," said Mathy Mezey, EdD, RN, F AAN, director, John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing, New York University, The Steinhardt School of Education, Division of Nursing. "Whether they work in hospitals, home care or skilled nursing facilities, the evidence is overwhelming that nurses prepared in geriatrics significantly improve health care to older adults," Dr. Mezey added.

The Nurse Competence in. Aging initiative consists of three program areas, each with specific activities:

1. Promoting the Geriatric Activities of National Specialty Nursing Associations by creating permanent geriatric structures. Designated Specialty Nursing Association Partners in Geriatrics (ANA-SNAPGs) apply for grants assistance and also gain technical assistance to help in developing geriatric special interest groups and initiate geriatric educational activities.

2. Conducting a National Gerontological Nursing Certification Outreach program dedicated to assisting more than 400,000 nurses, through their respective specialty nursing organizations, to obtain dual certification that includes demonstration of their newly acquired high level of knowledge related to care of older adults.

3. Developing a Web-based Comprehensive Geriatric Nursing Resource Center to provide a virtual, comprehensive geriatric nursing resource center easily customized for, and accessed by, specialty nurses at their workplace and home.

The following organizations have been awarded two-year implementation grants:

Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses

American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing

American Association of Critical-Care Nurses

American Psychiatric Nurses Association

American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses

Emergency Nurses Association

Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association

Infusion Nurses Society

National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists

National Nursing Staff Development Organization

Oncology Nursing Society

A one-year planning grant was awarded to the American Holistic Nurses Association.

The total amount of the grants awarded is $140,000 over two years.

ANA is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.7 million Registered Nurses through its 54 constituent associations. ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.