NLN, NLN Foundation, and Community College of Philadelphia Team Up on Grant to Prepare RN Students to Provide Geriatric Care

John A. Hartford Foundation Funds New Three-Year Project "Fostering Geriatrics in Pre-licensure Nursing Education, Phase II"

Laerdal Medical to Contribute $187K for New Simulation Design for Geriatric Care

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York, NY — April 8, 2009 — Following a successful Hartford Foundation-funded project to foster geriatrics education among associate degree, pre-licensure nursing students at the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP), the National League for Nursing and Laerdal Medical Corporation have joined forces with the college to extend this preparation to students in all pre-licensure RN programs: associate, baccalaureate, and diploma. This next phase, supported again by a generous grant of nearly $700,000 from the John A. Hartford Foundation, will build on the work done through "Fostering Geriatrics in Associate Degree Nursing Education," funded by Hartford in 2007-08.

"We are delighted that the Hartford Foundation is partnering with the NLN, the NLN Foundation, and Community College of Philadelphia to facilitate the next phase of this important work," said NLN CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN. "As Americas population ages and people live longer, geriatrics is an increasingly critical area of the health care environment, and therefore becoming an essential facet of every nurses education. On the front lines of health care delivery, nurses must be prepared to meet the needs of this population."

Added NLN Foundation chair Fran Hicks, PhD, RN, FAAN, "The NLN, Laerdal, and CCP will bring their distinctive and complementary expertise to Fostering Geriatrics in Pre-licensure Nursing Education: Phase II."

With its leadership in geriatrics nursing education, the college will develop a set of minimum standards of knowledge, skills, and attitudes required in the care of older adults; develop new resources and illuminate the use of existing resources; and create appropriate faculty development programming. The NLN, in turn, will utilize its extensive professional development network and vehicles to maximize the reach and impact of the project. The NLN counts 29,000 nurse educators and 1,200 institutional members that represent nursing programs from LPN to doctoral.

The NLNs senior director for professional development Dr. Mary Anne Rizzolo will oversee the NLNs involvement. NLN president Dr. Elaine Tagliareni, professor of nursing and Independence Foundation Chair at CCP, will lead the activities there. The Independence Foundation, the colleges local funding partner, is providing additional support for this initiative. And Laerdal Medical Corporation will support a concurrent NLN initiative to develop simulation and case studies on older adults.

At the conclusion of the three years, the National League for Nursing and the Community College of Philadelphia will have in place a model for teaching care of older adults, including curricular components for classroom and clinical experiences; an NLN position paper on geriatrics for faculty and students; increased use of the minimum standards and resources for older adult care by nurse educators; faculty workshops; and unfolding case studies and simulation scenarios accessible to faculty through the NLN website.

Reporter/Editors: For interview opportunities, please call Karen R. Klestzick, NLN chief communications officer, at 212-812-0376 or email kklestzick@nln.org.

Dedicated to excellence in nursing, the National League for Nursing is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education. The NLN offers faculty development, networking opportunities, testing services, nursing research grants, and public policy initiatives to its 29,000 individual and 1,200 institutional members who represent all types of nursing education programs.

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 Americas older adults. Through its grantmaking, the Hartford Foundation seeks to strengthen the nations 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 Hartford 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 it programs is available at www.jhartfound.org.