HGNI New Directions

Welcome to New Directions, a publication of the Hartford Geriatric Nursing Initiative (HGNI). This e-newsletter is designed to inform interested academic and practice leaders, faculty members, students, practitioners, and others about the work of the HGNI and provide the latest news and information relevant to geriatric nursing.

If you have items you would like mentioned in New Directions, please contact Pamela Dudzik at pdudzik@aannet.org, Deirdre Thornlow at dthornlo@aacn.nche.edu, or Elaine Gould at elaine.gould@nyu.edu . We look forward to hearing from you!

In this Issue

1. Senate Terminates Funding for Geriatric Education Centers
2. The HGNI Brand-Join Us in Promoting the Network
3. Tools, Resources & Opportunities
4. Announcements
5. Link of the Month: Teaching Gerontology Newsletter from AARP

1. Senate Terminates Funding for Geriatric Education Centers

Last month, the 2006 appropriations bill for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, (H.R. 3010) eliminated HRSA funding for 50 U.S. Geriatric Education Centers. The cuts were supported by a U.S. Senate bill, led by Senator Bill Frist (R-Tenn), and ushered through by Vice President Dick Chaney's tie-breaking vote. Additional funding cuts included the Geriatric Training for Physicians and Dentists and the Geriatric Faculty Fellowships (in medicine) at a total funding level of $31.5 million. The National Association of GECs ( NAGEc) , supported by various professional geriatric healthcare associations, is working to restore the cuts in the 2007 budget. Please contact your representatives to show your support. For updates on the issue, visit the National Association of Geriatric Education Centers (www.nagec.org).

2. The HGNI Brand-Join Us in Promoting the Network

All HGNI scholars, fellows, sub-grantees, and alumni are encouraged to use the HGNI graphic identity on posters and other print materials, Web sites, email signatures, and PowerPoint presentations. Go to: www.geriatricnursing.org/graphics/ to see the design guidelines for using the brand, as well as several versions of the logo and a variety of helpful templates, including PowerPoint slides that you can adapt for your presentations. Using these graphics is easy, will help freshen up your communications, and is an important way to demonstrate the work of providing leadership to improve the health of older adults. To access these graphics, please visit: www.geriatricnursing.org/graphics.

3. Tools, Resources & Opportunities

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Geriatric Mental Health Services Research
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has created a two-year, postdoctoral, research training program for mental health professionals/scientists, including nurses, who are committed to becoming independently supported mental health services researchers. The program provides fellowship training in health services research for older adults with mental disorders and is a three-site consortium of the University of Washington, Cornell University, and Dartmouth Medical School. For more information, contact Aricca Van Citters at psychiatric.research.center@dartmouth.edu, Jennifer Walsh at jaw2015@med.cornell.edu, or Diane Powers at powersd@u.washington.edu.

RWJ Executive Nurse Fellows Program
Applications Due February 1, 2006
The RWJ Executive Nurse Fellows Program is seeking applicants who aspire to help lead and shape the U.S. healthcare system through this advanced leadership program for nurses in senior executive roles in health services, public health, and nursing education. For application guidelines and deadline information, please visit the RWJ Web site.

Summer Institute on Aging Research: July 8-14, 2006
Applications Due March 3, 2006
The Summer Institute on Aging Research offers new researchers intensive exposure to issues and challenges in research on aging. The preconference workshop, Clinical Research: Trials and Interventions, is especially for nurses. Information and the application, due March 3, 2006, can be found on the BAGNC website: www.geriatricnursing.org or http://www.nia.nih.gov/GrantsAndTraining/FundingOpportunities/SummerInstitute.htm.

Hartford Institute Geriatric Nursing Research Scholars Program: July 17-21, 2006
Applications Due March 4th
The John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing at New York University College of Nursing has created a partnership with national experts in gerontological nursing research to plan and implement the 2006 Geriatric Nursing Research Scholars Program. Scholars will attend a week-long, intensive seminar at New York University.The goals of the program are to foster successful programs of gerontologic research with significant implications for practice, assist in the refinement of a program of significant research, hone specific research skills, and gain a competitive edge for funding. The cost for the seminar, materials, and housing is underwritten by a generous grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation and administered by the BAGNC of the American Academy of Nursing (AAN). A flyer, application, and sample schedule are available at www.hartfordign.org/research/scholarsFellows/index.html. For additional information, contact Dr. Elizabeth Capezuti at ec65@nyu.edu.

Geriatric Education Nursing Project: Showcasing Curriculum Grant Innovations
Each month, the AACN gerontology education Web site showcases the curricular innovations of a Hartford-awarded school's geriatric nursing program. Most recently featured are Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, MI, and the Mennonite College of Nursing at Illinois State University.

The John A. Hartford Foundation funding ignited an explosion of gerontology-related curriculum development on the Grand Valley State University campus. The College of Nursing now boasts a gerontology-rich cultural environment that feeds on itself by continuously developing gerontology-related faculty expertise, expanding programs, and increasing community involvement. Faculty development activities are slowly and systematically turning minds around, thus creating broad support and participation. Principal investigator Phyllis Gendler, PhD, RN, NP, remains proud of the Hartford-sponsored longitudinal study that continues to serve an ever increasing number of the university community's elderly citizens. For more information, visit: www.aacn.nche.edu/Education/Hartford/ShowcasingInnovations/gvsu.htm.

Mennonite College of Nursing at Illinois State University stands out in its commitment to promote gerontological nursing education. Principal Investigator Dr. Brenda Recchia Jeffers and her geriatric education grant team utilized their funding to create a university educational culture that values older adult care. They achieved this in a variety of ways, including use of Hartford Institute resources; institution of faculty development activities; embellishment of partnerships with long-term care facilities; development of gerontological nursing Web modules; establishment of a gerontology-rich environment; and receipt of additional educational funding. For more information, visit: http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Education/Hartford/ShowcasingInnovations/illinoisstate.htm.

Dissertation Awards Programs in Aging Research
The National Institute on Aging (NIA) has announced the availability of dissertation awards (R36) in all areas of research within the Institute's mandate to increase the diversity of the research workforce on aging. These awards are available to qualified predoctoral students in accredited research doctoral programs in the United States. For more information on the Aging Research Dissertation Awards to Increase Diversity (R36) (PAR-06-117) go to: grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-06-117.html.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has announced its continued interest in the health services research dissertation grant program (R36), which supports research undertaken as part of an academic program to qualify for a doctorate. The AHRQ dissertation award also supports dissertation research costs for students in accredited research doctoral programs in the United States. Dissertation applications must focus on methodological and research topics that address the mission and research interests of AHRQ. For more information on the AHRQ Grants for Health Services Research Dissertation award R36) (PAR-06-118), go to: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-06-118.html.

Caring for Hospitalized Persons with Dementia
The Hartford Institute's Try This: Best Practices in Care for Older Adults series of assessment tools provides knowledge of best practices in the care of older adults. This month, we highlight "Decision Making and Dementia," a guideline for evaluation and process for decision making by hospitalized persons with dementia. To read it, go to: www.hartfordign.org/publications/trythis/DecisionMakingandDementia.pdf.

Caring for hospitalized persons with dementia is also the topic of a newly published book, Improving Hospital Care for Persons with Dementia, edited by Nina Silverstein and Katie Maslow. The book reviews research, literature, and practices from hospital entry to post-discharge. To learn more, visit: www.springerpub.com/prod.aspx?prod_id=39159.

December AJN Article Focuses on Depression & Dispiritedness in Later Life
While depression is not an inevitable outcome of aging, many factors related to becoming old can result in a range of feelings from "being in low spirits"-or dispirited-to being depressed. A study done among older adults presenting for care in an Emergency Department found that one in three displayed clinically significant symptoms of depression, yet personnel failed to identify most of the cases. Understanding how depression presents differently in older adults can lead to better recognition and interventions to improve the quality of life.

In this article by Howard K. Butcher, PhD, RN, APRN,BC, and Meghan McGonigal-Kennedy, BSN, RN, readers will find resources to help in the identification of depression and dispiritedness, as well as treatments options including various types of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy. Also included are tips and resources for practitioners by care setting.

This and previous articles in the "New Look at the Old" print series (see below) can be accessed free of charge. Links to videos based on articles in the print series can also be found at: www.NursingCenter.com/AJNolderadults. Reprints of previous articles are available at no cost.

4. Announcements

2006 AACN Master's Education Conference
Please join us at the 2006 AACN Master's Education Conference to be held in San Antonio, TX, on February 16-18, 2006. Given that only a fraction of master's prepared nurses have specialized training in gerontology, preparing all nurses at the master's level in gerontology is one answer to expanding the nation's capacity to care for our aging population. An oft-cited constraint includes the already overloaded curriculum. Still, new active learning strategies are needed to prepare providers who can access relevant and current information and make sound clinical judgments. Come join us for a program session, "Ahead of the Curve: Integrating Gerontology Across Master's Programs," in which panelists provide learning strategies, including The Model Case Study, for incorporating gerontology content into graduate nursing programs. The session is offered Thursday February 16, 2006 (3:30-5:30 pm). For more information about the conference, please visit: www.aacn.nche.edu/Conferences/06Masters.htm.

Save the Date!

Nurses Improving Care for HealthSystem Elders (NICHE) Leadership Conference
February 27-28, 2006
The Hartford Institute's program of enhancing healthcare outcomes for older adults in hospitals

Clinical Updates Conference
March 1, 2006
Cutting-edge, research based nursing practices for care of older adults

Users Conference
March 2, 2006
Innovative and practical approaches to strengthen NICHE

For more information, please visit the NICHE homepage at: www.hartfordign.org/programs/niche/index.html.

2006 BAGNC Scholarships & Fellowships
The application deadline for the 2006-2008 BAGNC Predoctoral Scholarships and the Claire M. Fagin Postdoctoral Fellowships was January 10, 2006. A total of 55 applications were received, and review of these applications is underway. MBA scholarship applications are due March 15, 2006. For more information, visit: www.geriatricnursing.org.

BAGNC Fellow Receives Awards
Leanne Lefler (2004-2006 Pre Doc Scholar) worked intricately with her co-mentor, Dr. Jean McSweeney, and the research team on Dr. McSweeney's study, MI Symptoms in Women: Disparities in Women of Color. Their abstract was submitted and accepted for the American Heart Association (AHA) and Southern Nurses Research Society (SNRS) Annual Conferences. The AHA abstract was awarded the 2005 Best Abstract Award from the Council of Cardiovascular Nursing and Leanne Lefler was acknowledged along with the other authors at the annual Council Dinner in November, 2005.

Claire Fagin Presentation Available Online
Video of the interview of the 2006 Mary Starke Harper Distinguished Lectureship recipient, Claire M. Fagin, PhD, RN, FAAN, is now online. To view it, please go to www.geriatricnursing.org/leadership/2005.

2006 GSA Conference
GSA has announced that its 2006 conference will be held in Dallas, TX, November 16-20, 2006 at the Adam's Mark Hotel-Dallas. The 2006 HGNI Leadership Conference will also take place in Dallas.

5. Link of the Month: Teaching Gerontology Newsletter from AARP

Teaching Gerontology is an electronic newsletter edited by Harry (Rick) Moody at the AARP Office of Academic Affairs. The e-newsletter contains items of interest to improve the teaching of aging in higher education and offers a wealth of resources in each issue. To subscribe or to view back issues of the newsletter go to: www.hrmoody.com/newsletters.html.

Write to Us

We are committed to creating a monthly publication that serves your needs and interests. New Directions, therefore, welcomes your feedback and encourages you to supply ideas, stories, resources, news, and other content for subsequent issues. To make a contribution, please contact Pamela Dudzik at pdudzik@aannet.org, Deirdre Thornlow at dthornlo@aacn.nche.edu, or Elaine Gould at elaine.gould@nyu.edu.

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