Enhancing an Academic-Practice Partnershipwith theCREATIONof aGeriatric Nurse Instructor Position

Abstract

DESPITE THE GROWING NEED FOR NURSES TO WORK WITH THE OLDER ADULT POPULATION, THE TEACHING OF GERONTOLOGICAL NURSING PRESENTS MANY CHALLENGES TO NURSING EDUCATION, Multiple factors, including the faculty shortage, a lack of faculty expertise, and the need to develop sites for clinical placements (Ironside, Tagliareni, McLaughlin, King, & Mengel, 2010; Mueller, Goering, Talley, & Zaccagnini, 2011; Thornlow, Latimer, Kingsborough, & Arietti, 2006), affect the ability of schools of nursing to educate the nurses needed to ensure that older adults maintain functional ability to age well in the community and manage the care needs for older adults in acute care and rehabilitation settings. With the population of people over the age of 60 expected to double worldwide between 2000 and 2050, from 600 million to 2 billion (World Health Organization, 2012), the need for nurses trained in gerontology is greater now than ever before. Gerontology content varies in schools of nursing, with some programs having a single gerontology course and others integrating content across the curriculum. Either way, schools must prepare graduates with the competencies required to manage care for older adults across a diversity of health care settings. This article describes how the creation of a geriatric nurse instructor position maximized educational benefits and enhanced the academic-practice partnership between a community college in Maine and local nursing homes. Implications for those interested in designing, funding, or implementing such a position are presented. Background First-level nursing students in the associate degree nursing program traditionally received initial clinical experiences at local nursing homes (Ironside et al., 2010). A faculty shortage, combined with lack of expertise in gerontological nursing, led to an inefficient learning experience for students, one that did not meet the program's expected learning outcomes. With nursing homes in the area struggling to recruit and retain new graduate nurses, the nursing leadership of a rural geriatric health agency, which partnered with five nursing homes, met with the chair of the nursing department at the community college, to explore barriers to the use of nursing homes as clinical sites and as potential employers for new graduate nurses. These discussions led to a proposal to create a geriatric nurse service instructor position with a threefold purpose: a) to address gaps in gerontology nursing in the curriculum and help with the nursing faculty shortage, b) to increase the effectiveness of clinical experiences for students at two of the nursing homes, and c) to provide mentorship opportunities for students and new graduate nurses. A grant proposal was submitted to a foundation to help with initial funding for the position's salary. The community college also supports the position with funding, and the agency contributes administrative, human resources, and technology support for the position. The instructor maintains an office at the geriatric health agency and divides her time equally between the community college and the agency, with flexibility to offer additional time at either site as needed. (In the fall, the ratio is 60/40, with more time spent at the community college.) With four organizations helping to fund the position, financial sustainability is supported. As envisioned, the position called for, at a minimum, a master's prepared, certified gerontology nurse with academic experience at the undergraduate level. Additional skills in interdisciplinary communication, leadership and management concepts, and collaboration were identified as essential requirements for success in the position, and the ability to use technology to deliver educational programs such as web-based, online training program modules was preferred. Support of Nursing Students A first step for the geriatric nurse service instructor was the completion of a curriculum review of the associate degree program to identify gaps in gerontological nursing education. …