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Jean Wyman: Transforming Geriatric Nursing Education

Jean Wyman: Transforming Geriatric Nursing Education

Our 2010 Annual Report, “A Day in the Life of an Academic Geriatric Nurse,” features photographic profiles of 18 nurses who have received BAGNC awards or who play key roles in the program. An essential component of the BAGNC Initiative is a series of grants that have established nine…

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Overcoming Unconscious Incompetence: Improving Specialty Resident Education

Overcoming Unconscious Incompetence: Improving Specialty Resident Education

“Overcoming unconscious incompetence”--This is how one emergency medicine physician described his efforts to convince colleagues about the need for better education of resident trainees in the care of older adults. Many specialists--ER docs, surgeons, anesthesiologists, gynecologists, urologists, etc.--and those who train them believe they already take excellent care of…

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Monika Eckfield: Helping Hoarders

Monika Eckfield: Helping Hoarders

Our 2010 Annual Report, “A Day in the Life of an Academic Geriatric Nurse,” includes photographic profiles of 18 nurses who have received BAGNC awards or who play key roles in the program. To supplement the profiles, we will be posting interviews with several of these outstanding nurses over the…

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Don’t Just Count Heads, Weigh Them!

Don’t Just Count Heads, Weigh Them!

In 2006, when the IOM process that led to the publication of Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce kicked off, I had the opportunity to speak to the committee. As the then–Atlantic Philanthropies’ representative, I thought very hard about what I would say to this…

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Under the Influence: BAGNC Inspires Nurses

Under the Influence: BAGNC Inspires Nurses

Allow me to introduce you to Melissa Aselage, MSN, RN. Melissa is a Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity (BAGNC) Initiative Pre-doctoral Scholar at the Medical University of South Carolina College of Nursing, where she studies techniques to help nursing home staff manage meal time behaviors in residents with dementia. Melissa…

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Making Hard Decisions Easier

Making Hard Decisions Easier

Shortly after I was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer a scan showed a hot spot on my lower spine. Was it the spread of cancer? My oncologist scheduled a bone biopsy at my hospital, Maimonides Medical Center, in order for us to find out. A few days before the procedure…

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Confused about Post-Operative Confusion

Confused about Post-Operative Confusion

We continue to receive a tremendous response to Nora's blog about her father's post-operative confusion and know that many of you have experienced similar situations. We invite you to visit our Resources page, where you will find links to helpful sites, including the Foundation for Health in Aging's delirium topic…

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Building Ladders and Raising the Floor

Building Ladders and Raising the Floor

A metaphorical barn-raising started in Washington, DC, on May 26. Hosted by Jobs for the Future and John A. Hartford Foundation grantee PHI, the “Building Ladders and Raising the Floor” conference convened 75 leaders from across the workforce development and long-term services and supports sectors to discuss how the…

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Reflections on My Father’s Passing . . . and Writing About It

Reflections on My Father’s Passing . . . and Writing About It

My father’s death shook me more than I anticipated. Helplessly watching him decline and die made my chosen career in geriatrics frighteningly personal, giving me an unwanted “insider’s perspective” on the issues I have so often counseled my frail older patients and their families about, such as delirium, polypharmacy…

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Making Lemonade with the Medicare Innovations Collaborative

Making Lemonade with the Medicare Innovations Collaborative

At the recent American Geriatrics Society (AGS) annual conference in Maryland, I had the pleasure of attending a MedIC (Medicare Innovations Collaborative) meeting. MedIC was founded to influence health care practices and policy by helping health systems test and implement evidence-based programs that improve the health of hospitalized older adults…

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