Greetings!

Welcome to the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing's May 2010 eNewsletter featuring articles, reference materials, useful links, calendar of events and other best practice information on the care of older adults.

This eNewsletter is sponsored by ConsultGeriRN.org, the authoritative geriatric clinical nursing website of the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing, New York University College of Nursing and the NICHE (Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders) program. ConsultGeriRN.org contains evidence-based protocols and topics for nurses and other healthcare professionals on the care of older adults.

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May is Older Americans Month-a tradition dating back to 1963 to honor the legacies and ongoing contributions of older Americans and support them as they enter the next stage in life. The Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing at New York University's College of Nursing is joining communities nationwide in celebrating this month. Please visit our websites, HartfordIGN.org, ConsultGeriRN.org and NICHEProgram.org to find the many resources we have for you, ensuring that older adults are given the best nursing care available.

This year's Older Americans Month theme-Age Strong! Live Long!-recognizes the diversity and vitality of today's older Americans who span three generations. They have lived through wars and hard times, as well as periods of unprecedented prosperity. They pioneered new technologies in medicine, communications, and industry while spearheading a cultural revolution that won equal rights for minorities, women, and disabled Americans.

These remarkable achievements demonstrate the strength and character of older Americans, and underscore the debt of gratitude we owe to the generations that have given our society so much. But the contributions of older Americans are not only in the past.

Older Americans are living longer and are more active than ever before. And with the aging of the baby boomer generation-the largest in our nation's history-America's senior population is expected to number 71.5 million by 2030.

The annual commemoration of Older Americans Month is our opportunity to recognize the contributions of older citizens and join them in providing services and support that empower the elderly. Americans of all ages and backgrounds can volunteer with programs that improve health literacy, increase access to quality health services, offer food and nutrition services, provide financial and housing counseling, sponsor social activities and community engagement, and more. Contact your local Area Agency on Aging by visiting www.eldercare.gov or calling 1-800-677-1116 to find out what you can do to strengthen services for older Americans, this month and all year round.

Falls among older adults are not a normal consequence of aging; rather, they are considered a geriatric syndrome most often due to discrete multifactorial and interacting, predisposing (intrinsic and extrinsic risks), and precipitating (dizziness, syncope) causes.

Nearly one-third of older adults living in the community fall each year in their home. The highest fall incidence occurs in the institutional long-term-care setting (i.e., nursing home), where 50% to 75% of the 1.63 million nursing-home residents experience a fall yearly.
Learn more about "Falls" including references and assessment tools by visiting ConsultGeriRN.org.

Nurses care for older adults in health and illness across the full range of health care settings. Especially in late life, physical illness often precipitates and/or is accompanied by psychiatric symptoms. Therefore it is important that nursing education programs provide knowledge and skills that prepare nurses to care for older adults with mental health concerns and psychiatric/substance misuse disorders.

The Geropsychiatric Nursing Collaborative has developed the following resources to draw attention to the special needs of older adults:

• Definition of Geropsychiatric Nursing. This definition serves to guide future discussions about preparing nurses to care for older adults with mental health concerns.
• Key Concepts. These key concepts are foundational to the geropsychiatric nursing competency enhancements.
• Geropsychiatric Nursing Competency Enhancements. These enhancements are not intended to 'stand-alone,' but rather to enhance existing or to-be-developed competencies by relevant professional nursing organizations. The competency enhancements are organized in four topic areas: entry level and advanced practice level for Gerontological, Psychiatric-Mental Health and Other Specialties Caring for Older Adults, i.e. Adult, Family, Acute Care, and Women's Health. The advanced level category is further categorized by role, either Nurse Practitioner or Clinical Nurse Specialist.

View the Geropsychiatric Nursing Competency Enhancements (Log in required)

Back in our February 2010 installment of the Hartford Institute eNewsletter, we featured the GNEC Geriatric Nursing Education Podcasts (developed by Melissa Aselage, MSN, RN, FNP-BC) hosted on ConsultGeriRN.org. As part of this project, two new podcasts are available through ConsultGeriRN.org:

• Assessment and Management of Older Adults with Complex Illness in the Critical Care Unit
• Complex Care Needs in Older Adults with Dementia

Tara A. Cortes PhD,RN,FAAN
The Mathy D. Mezey Visiting Professor
The Hartford Institute
NYU College of Nursing

Will the Health Reform Act impact the care of our elderly population? Fundamental to this bill is health promotion. Many health care providers think of geriatric care as the care of sick older people. Value needs to be placed on the belief that people can age with better health, independence and a quality of life. Too many health professionals base interventions on what the patient can do rather than on what they should do. Therefore they provide therapy that is less aggressive and allow the patient to become more debilitated. Healthy aging is about keeping people at their highest level of independent living with a quality of life.

Contributing to the lack of appropriate care are several factors. First of all, we do not have high quality, coordinated care uniformly distributed across the country to assure healthy aging. Second, we need more quality research to further our understanding of healthy aging. Third, we need all health professionals who work with our elderly to know what healthy aging means. Fourth, we need more nurses, physicians, therapists and other professionals specializing in geriatrics. And lastly, we need to move the perception of geriatrics from the care of sick elderly and fee for service to the promotion of health and care across the continuum.

Our country is simply not ready to provide the healthcare needed to the millions of people who will be reaching their senior years as well as living longer over the next two decades and beyond. Our Medicare system is on the brink of collapse and we spend more money on the last six months of life care than any other country. Meaningful health reform is dependent on the development of a model which reflects prevention, chronic disease management, preservation of independence and palliative care when appropriate with coordinated, patient centered care across the continuum of different care levels. This also requires a different reimbursement system.

America Needs Better Care!

June Enrollment Open!

NICHE Leadership Training Program

NICHE Hosts New "Online Connect" Webinar:

"ACIT (Attention to Care Interdisciplinary Teams): A Quest for Clinical Excellence - Special Target: Pressure Ulcers"

NICHE Receives Grant from NYSHealth