A Day in the Life of an Academic Geriatric Nurse

Barbara Resnick, PhD, RN, CRNP

Professor
University of Maryland
School of Nursing

Baltimore, Maryland

BAGNC Mentor

“The greatest gift the BAGNC program gave me was the opportunity to be mentored by Barbara Resnick,” says Beth Galik, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland School of Nursing (Hartford Pre-doctoral Scholar, 2003-2005). “She’s very motivating and made me believe I could succeed,” says Dr. Galik. Mentorship is a core component of the BAGNC Initiative.

barbara_resnick Dr. Resnick, BAGNC mentor and geriatric nurse practitioner at Roland Park Place, a continuing care community in Baltimore, MD.

Dr. Resnick, a geriatric nurse practitioner and recognized leader in the field, tends to attract Scholars and Fellows with an interest in her research on function-focused care. Her work involves optimizing physical activity and function in older adults in a variety of care settings. Students she has mentored have built on her intervention, with some replicating it in different populations of patients, such as those with dementia or Parkinson’s disease.

“The greatest gift the BAGNC program gave me was the opportunity to be mentored by Barbara Resnick.”
Dr. Elizabeth Galik

As a mentor, Dr. Resnick provides advice and assistance with research. Just as importantly, she helps to position Scholars and Fellows in roles where they can have an impact on the profession of nursing and on improving care for older adults. “These individuals were selected because they have the potential to bring something special to academic geriatric nursing,” says Dr. Resnick. “Mentoring is about listening, finding out the person’s strengths, then helping them to promote those strengths,” she says.

Dr. Resnick encourages everyone she mentors to become active in the profession by writing manuscripts, serving on editorial boards, and participating in national meetings. She encouraged and facilitated Dr. Galik’s involvement in national organizations, such as the American Medical Director’s Association and the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association, where she is vice president-elect. Dr. Galik was recently named a Robert Wood Johnson Faculty Scholar.

barbara_resnick Dr. Resnick and her mentee, Dr. Galik, discuss medication issues with a resident. barbara_resnick Dr. Resnick and Dr. Galik discuss their mutual interest in function-focused care. barbara_resnick Dr. Resnick with a resident. barbara_resnick

Donald Bailey, Jr., PhD, RN ›