The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) announces that 23 schools of nursing across the country were awarded grants to support the education and career development of geriatric advanced practice nurses. Funded by a generous grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation of New York, money will be used to provide scholarships for over 160 new nursing students wishing to pursue careers as experts in the delivery of care to older adults.
       "AACN applauds the Hartford Foundation's commitment to improving geriatric care through its support of nursing education," said Dr. Kathleen Ann Long, AACN's President and Dean of the University of Florida College of Nursing. "Scholarships will enable schools to significantly expand enrollments by removing financial barriers and promoting careers in geriatric nursing."
       Through the Creating Careers in Geriatric Advanced Practice Nursing project, AACN has awarded scholarship money to schools of nursing with existing geriatric advanced practice nursing programs to increase student enrollment. The project is committed to increasing the diversity of the advanced practice nursing work force and to providing networking, mentorship, role modeling, and leadership activities for scholarship awardees and experts in geriatric nursing.
       "Schools receiving grants have committed a significant amount of resources and faculty to preparing a new cohort of nurses specializing in geriatric care," said Dr. Eileen Sullivan-Marx, chair of the project's Advisory Committee and associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. "These institutions are to be commended for their efforts to recruit and prepare expert clinicians needed to serve the healthcare needs of older adults throughout the United States."
       Schools awarded grant money include Boston College, Case Western Reserve University, Duke University, Emory University, George Mason University, Long Island University-Brooklyn Campus, Northeastern University, Oregon Health & Sciences University, Radford University, Rush University, Seattle Pacific University, University of California-Los Angeles, University of California-San Francisco, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Pennsylvania, University of Rhode Island, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, University of Washington, Wilkes University, and Yale University. Though some institutions will have scholarship money available by Fall 2002, most schools will begin their programs during the 2003 academic year.
       Along with increasing the supply of geriatric nurses, this initiative will help to define the role of geriatric advanced practice nurses and spark the development of a broader range of career opportunities in this nursing specialty area. This step is necessary to improve the field's appeal as an attractive and dynamic career option. In an effort to reach a larger nursing community, AACN will create web resources to facilitate on-line communication, disseminate information, and foster networking among scholarship recipients and experts in geriatrics.
       "Stronger links between students and clinical leaders will help to solidify the role of the geriatric advanced practice nurse and attract new students to the field," said Dr. Corinne H. Rieder, Executive Director of the Hartford Foundation. "With specialized training in geriatric care, nurses prepared through this project will help to advance the Foundation's goal of ensuring quality care for our nation's rapidly increasing older population."