In response to a nationwide scarcity of certified geriatric medical professionals, the University will use a $90,000 grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation Nursing Education Project to assist nurses in earning post-masters certificates in geriatric care.
The grant will be used to develop a new geriatric curriculum that should be fully implemented by the fall of 2003. The program is directed toward seasoned nurses who want to further specialize their skills.
Program funding, which became available in January and will be administered over a three-year period, currently is being used to develop a new geriatric elective and to enhance the geriatric content in the family practitioners curriculum.
"We've got so much to do," said Kathy Fletcher, the aging services coordinator. "We're moving ahead with planning the curriculum now, and we are hoping to offer the geriatric elective by the fall."
The initiative also includes an instructive Internet program that is scheduled to be open to nurses across the country by 2004. After completion of the online certificate program, nurses will be prepared to take exams and obtain their credentials in gerontology.
In a collaborative effort between the school of nursing and the University's health system, the new program will offer its students a particularly high degree of interactions with specialists in gerontology.
A specialized program in geriatrics particularly is important because elderly caregivers confront additional difficulties that nurses in other fields do not face, Nursing Prof. Shelley Huffstutler said.
"Polypharmacy is a major issue in managing geriatric health care," she said. "The typical adult is on multiple medications, but the geriatric nurses can be instrumental in making sure patients are not taking medicine that they don't need."
The average age of the Charlottesville population is increasing, said Fletcher, a geriatric specialist with the University for 15 years.
This has led hospital officials to expect a growing percentage of elderly patients in the coming years. Currently, over 30 percent of the patients at the University Medical Center are over 65 years old, she added.
The local trend is not unique. Rand Corporation, a policy group that researches the state of health care throughout the nation, reports that the United States only has 7,000 medical professionals trained to treat the elderly. The estimated number of physicians needed is 20,000.
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