Paper
Friday, July 23, 2004
Education of Nurses Caring for Hospitalized Elders
Joyce J. Fitzpatrick, RN, PhD, MBA, FAAN, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA, Barbara Callahan, MSN, RN, Nursing, Long Island Jewish Hospital, Great Neck, NY, USA, and Tara Easter, MA, GNP, Nursing, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
| Learning Objective #1: Identify the components of Family Centered Culturally Competent Geriatric Care |
| Learning Objective #2: Understand the educational dimensions of preparing nurses at the point of care |
Objective: Improve the nursing care of hospitalized elders by preparation of nursing staff in delivery of Family Centered Culturally Competent Geriatric Care (FCCCGC). Design: This is a pretest posttest intervention study focused on education of nursing staff on 13 medical-surgical units in 2 major medical centers. The education intervention is designed from national models in the 3 dimensions: Geriatric Care, Family Centered Care (FCC), and Culturally Competent Care (CCC). Population, Sample, Setting: Nursing staff (RNs and Nursing Assistants) on 13 units at 2 major medical centers are the primary trainees in this project. Sixty-six RNs and 31 ancillary staff members are included. Variables: The knowledge intervention consists of preparation of nursing staff (including RNs and ancillary staff) in specialized content in Family Centered Culturally Competent Geriatric Care. Geriatric knowledge, Attitudes toward FCC, and Cultural Awareness are the outcome variables studied. Methods: Comparisons of pre and post intervention scores on Geriatric Knowledge, Attitudes toward FCC, and Cultural Awareness will be reported. Findings: Differences in scores from time 1 to time 2 will be reported. In addition, findings regarding components of knowledge intervention at the point of care will be reported, including both process and product dimensions of the educational preparation. Conclusions: The preparation of nursing staff in components of Family Centered Culturally Competent Geriatric Care can improve the nurses' assessment of the care that they provide. The education is effective when brought to the point of service, i.e., nursing staff on the units caring for elderly patients and their families. Implications: There is a need to adopt models of Family Centered Care, widely used in pediatric nursing, for care of hospitalized elders. Aspects of Culturally Competent Care can be integrated into preparation for basic clinical care in Geriatric Nursing.
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Sigma Theta Tau International
July 22-24, 2004