Date of Graduation
Fall 12-15-2017
Document Type
Project
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
College/School
School of Nursing and Health Professions
Department/Program
Nursing
Program
DNP Completion
First Advisor
TIMOTHY GODFREY, SJ, DNP, MSW, RN
Second Advisor
WANDA BORGES, PHD, RN
Abstract
The growing population of older adults beckons nursing education to evolve and prepare the future nursing workforce with skills and knowledge to coordinate care for the community-dwelling older adult (gerontological) population. The purpose of this project is to develop, implement, and evaluate academic partnerships with agencies serving community-dwelling older adults for the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) students. The formation of Community-Academic Partnerships (CAP) offers the opportunity for an experiential learning internship in combination with a gerontological curriculum. The curriculum is integrated into the CNL role courses and internship, focusing on person-centered interactions with older adults; the benefits, burdens, and struggles of aging; and the available services and resources to assist and support the community-dwelling older adults to continue to age in place. Initial evaluations of the CAP by participating community agencies demonstrated support and a positive response to the partnership. Students’ initial assessment of their knowledge of, and attitudes toward, older adults demonstrated a slight increase after one semester of implementation. The Gerontological CAP serves as a model of how an academic institution can partner with community agencies that serve older adults to improve the MSN CNL’s gerontological competencies and attitudes regarding community-dwelling older adults, and ultimately promote healthy living in the aging population.
Keywords: geriatric/gerontological population, older adults, nursing education, graduate nursing students, community-academic partnerships, service-learning, community health nursing, community health partnerships, community partnership building, program effectiveness, program evaluation, and survey tools.
Recommended Citation
Serafin-Dickson, Francine, "GERONTOLOGICAL COMMUNITY-ACADEMIC PARTNERSHIP FOR AN MSN INTERNSHIP" (2017). Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects. 108.
https://repository.usfca.edu/dnp/108
