Mary Jean Schumann

The nurse competence in aging initiative: Encouraging expertise in the care of older adults.

AJN t September 2006 t Vol. 106, No. 9 93 and produce better outcomes. Yet few nurses have had the opportunity to gain such knowledge, either through education or at work. Nurse Competence in Aging (NCA) is a fiveyear initiative created in 2002 through an alliance of the ANA, the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), and the John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing (Hartford Institute). Funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies, through the American Nurses Foundation, the initiative addresses the need to ensure competence in geriatrics among nursing specialties in which nurses serve older patients. Collectively, the associations that represent these specialties have a membership of over 400,000 practicing nurses, who work in settings such as critical care and medical–surgical units, oncology, rehabilitation, and hospice. The main objective of the NCA initiative is to help associations to embrace the concept of, and individual nurses to adopt, “dual professionalism” in geriatrics and another specialty practice. (Throughout this article the term nurses refers to RNs; the term geriatrics refers to both geriatric and gerontological practice.)

Using a Student-Faculty Collaborative Learning Model to Teach Grant Development in Graduate Nursing Education

Graduate nurses are employed in clinical, research, educational, and policy roles. As leaders, they are expected to develop and sustain projects that support translating research to practice and policy. Funding to support initiatives is tight and requires innovative solutions to cover salaries, benefits, equipment purchases, and other program expenses. In an effort to teach grant writing while developing skilled leaders who are effective and competitive in securing funds, the George Washington University School of Nursing offers a graduate-level grant writing course. In the summer of 2011, a collaborative learning model was developed within the course. The joint approach was foundational to securing an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality grant to support development and implementation of a patient engagement project by the Nursing Alliance for Quality Care. This article describes the project and offers hints for those seeking to develop a collaborative educational experience that affords new leadership skills for RNs from all backgrounds.