It is with great pleasure that I have had the opportunity to watch, and in many situations participate in, the specialty organization Nurse Competence in Aging projects. The goal of these projects was to engage specialty organizations in ensuring that members provide exemplary care to older adults.
The projects undertaken by the 55 participating organizations generally focused on the following: establishment or support of geriatric structures such as geriatric special interest groups within the associations; development and dissemination of educational events and materials (e.g., presentation at conferences, continuing-education materials, Web-based educational programs) for specialty organizations members and nonmembers; acknowledgment of nurses who have provided exemplary geriatric care through awards; development or revision of association scope and standards documents to reflect skills relevant to care of older adults; development of position statements or of policies and procedures for how to perform specific tasks such as management of infusions for older adults; or development of specific products such as the Mental Health Toolkit or the Low Vision Toolkit.
Organizations involved in NCA ranged from those focused on a disease or other specialty area such as orthopedics, oncology, or vascular disease, to those that were culturally focused, such as the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, to administrative nurses, such as those focused on staff development education or directors of nursing administration in long-term care, and even those focused on care of children. Who knew that so many nursing organizations would be open to helping members enhance care of older adults, and would be willing to put in the work to make it happen? Wow. We thank those who conceptualized the idea for establishing the Nurse Competence in Aging Project and those who provided the financial support to make it happen. The results, I believe, have raised awareness of the special needs that older adults experience across a variety of clinical areas and the needs of nurses to learn more about how to best care for these individuals.
So—what next? We have begun a process of awareness-raising related to the special care needs of older adults, initiated some focused education, developed tools and standards of care, and established some level of recognition of competence in care of the older adult. Now we must move from these first steps of education and certification and award giving to the work at hand. Education alone, unfortunately, is not enough to change behavior. Changing our behavior as care providers and applying what has been learned into practice is well known to be challenging. Historically, even when we’ve known the best practice, read about it in the lay press, and heard about it on the radio, we still may not have adhered to the recommendation. This is particularly true when the behavior may be hard to do. Personally, I still dream of the day when every nurse responds to an older adult’s request to go to the bathroom immediately because he or she knows—immediately in an older adult means immediately!
Beyond the actual products developed by the specialty associations, the projects have also allowed us to interact with each other in ways we don’t normally. Let’s not lose that now. Our oncology nursing colleagues understand treatment protocols and drug side effects and have much to teach the nurses in long-term care who increasingly must manage patients undergoing such treatment. Our pediatric colleagues are interested in learning about how to manage the special issues of the grandparents who may be primary caregivers for the children they work with. Conversely, these pediatric-focused nurses have much to teach us about clinical approaches used with children that we can translate effectively to care of the older adult. Many of the organizational participants in NCA benefited from opportunities provided by NCA to meet and exchange ideas. They shared conference presentations and approaches to “gerontologizing” their Web sites, for example, building on one another’s efforts. So, lets continue the dialogue and sharing as we grow and learn together.
Again kudos to all involved with any of these specialty organization Nurse Competence in Aging projects. What a fantastic model of infusing geriatrics and an amazing first step toward improving care. Let us not stop here. We have the opportunity to use these tools and monitor and test the outcomes of our efforts. In so doing, we will be able to build on what we currently know and make it better.
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