http://phinational.org/archives/silver-tsunami-should-concern-obama-says-globe/ PHI works to improve long-term care -- by improving the jobs of home health aides, certified nurse aides, & personal care attendants. Fri, 13 Aug 2010 02:14:04 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 http://phinational.org/archives/silver-tsunami-should-concern-obama-says-globe/comment-page-1/#comment-2267 Vickie Rodgers Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:11:27 +0000 http://phinational.org/?p=1630#comment-2267 As a nurse educator, I continually stress the importance of increased geriatric education for all nurses that will care for the elderly. In the United States there is a terrible misconception that working with the elderly is for nurses who can't handle the acute care environment. This couldn't be further from the truth. Unfortunately,as a profession, many nurses do not value geriatrics as a specialty. This is evidenced by the lack of education and orientation provided to new staff in long term care facilities. For instance, a nurse beginning a career in pediatrics, obstetrics, and most other clinical areas will receive anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months of orientation/ training. The long term care facilities in my area might provide 1 -2 weeks, and this training does not usually contain information specific to caring for the elderly. Until we treat these geriatric nurses with respect for their chosen specialty, it is going to continue to be difficult to recruit talented nurses to care for one of our most precious gifts, the elderly. As a nurse educator, I continually stress the importance of increased geriatric education for all nurses that will care for the elderly. In the United States there is a terrible misconception that working with the elderly is for nurses who can’t handle the acute care environment. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Unfortunately,as a profession, many nurses do not value geriatrics as a specialty. This is evidenced by the lack of education and orientation provided to new staff in long term care facilities. For instance, a nurse beginning a career in pediatrics, obstetrics, and most other clinical areas will receive anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months of orientation/ training. The long term care facilities in my area might provide 1 -2 weeks, and this training does not usually contain information specific to caring for the elderly. Until we treat these geriatric nurses with respect for their chosen specialty, it is going to continue to be difficult to recruit talented nurses to care for one of our most precious gifts, the elderly.

]]>