Starting a nurse-managed center for older adults: The needs assessment process: Nurse-managed centers work well in the new health care environment. The challenge is to determine the type of project that is feasible and develop strategies to implement services

Abstract

Nursing centers can be a vital part of the plan to meet the health needs of the coming "age wave." Nurses, who provide both the care for chronic illness and the means for preventing the onset of chronic disability, are in key positions to influence the evolving health care system to create new systems of community-based care. The time for NMCs is, perhaps, now or never. Conducting a thorough needs assessment is the first important step.