Award for Baccalaureate Education: Infusing Geriatrics into the Nursing Curriculum

Kristen Mauk, PhD, RN, Associate Professor of Nursing, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana, at the Hebron Community Center, Hebron, Indiana, supervises students performing blood pressure screening as part of their course, "The Aging Process." When Valparaiso University College of Nursing revised its baccalaureate curriculum, the faculty saw an opportunity to integrate geriatric content into every course. "The faculty realized that we needed to prepare our nursing students to take care of older people because no matter where they eventually work they will have exposure to taking care of elderly patients," says Kristen Mauk, PhD, RN, Associate Professor of Nursing. With assistance from a Hartford/AACN grant, this effort was so successful that Valparaiso was recognized in 2004 with the "Infusing Geriatrics into the Nursing Curriculum Award" from the Hartford Institute and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

"As we developed the curriculum, we made sure that geriatrics was covered in some way in each of the courses and each of the clinical experiences," says Dr. Mauk. The faculty also created a required freestanding course called "The Aging Process." Prior to this, there had been an elective course in gerontological nursing, which had not been well attended. With help from the Hartford Foundation grant, the gerontology course was updated and made a requirement for all nursing students in the junior year.

"One of the things we try to do in the class is to positively influence the students' attitude about older people," says Dr. Mauk. The course covers the biological aging process, medical issues that relate to aging (such as taking multiple medications), as well as psychological and sociological issues that relate to older people, (such as elder abuse, suicide, and loss of independence as a result of illness). The students go through an aging simulation day where they see what it's like to engage in activities as an older person. A popular activity of the class is a service learning project in which small groups of students make a health-related presentation to older adults in a community-based setting, such as a senior center or independent living facility. Using a laptop computer and projector, the students give a slide presentation on topics such as stroke and stroke prevention, eating a heart healthy diet, or vitamins and supplements, followed by questions and a game that the students invent. "In all of their usual clinical experiences, the students are taking care of sick people. This activity gives students an opportunity to interact with healthy older adults and to look at aging in a different way," says Dr. Mauk.

In the senior year, nursing students are taken to an extended care facility or rehabilitation unit in a hospital, where they work with older people who are recovering from a hip fracture or another acute condition. This provides students a chance to experience working with older adults who get better and go home to continue living independently.

"When our students graduate, we can say that we have given them a really good experience and that they are well prepared to provide care to older adults," says Dr. Mauk, who along with Janet M. Brown, PhD, RN, Professor and Dean, College of Nursing, wrote the proposal for the project. "Getting the award was a validation of what we were doing; it encouraged us that what we were doing was in the right direction and that our faculty was coming up with new and good ideas," says Dr. Mauk.