School of Nursing to Host First Upper Midwest Geriatric Nursing Educational Alliance Meeting

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (May 27, 2008) - The University of Minnesota School of Nursing's Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence (MnHCGNE) will host the first Upper Midwest Geriatric Nursing Education Alliance Meeting this week.

The meeting will gather representatives from 37 colleges in the Upper Midwest and five of six tribal colleges in the nation in an effort to increase the number of high-quality new and existing faculty who will provide academic leadership in geriatric nursing at associate and higher degree nursing programs.

"This is a remarkable opportunity for regional nursing schools to strategize solutions to confront the tremendous need to prepare future nurses who will be able to care for the booming elderly population in the region" said Jean Wyman, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., F.G.S.A., director of MnHCGNE. "The alliance is unique in that 39 percent of nursing programs in the four-state area are represented, allowing for more widespread incorporation of geriatrics into nursing curricula and effective training of geriatric specialists in the region."

The meeting, held from May 27-29 at the University of Minnesota East Bank campus, will bring together representatives from Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and North Dakota to explore and establish a mission statement and strategic plan for the alliance. The goal is to recruit doctoral nursing students, with a special emphasis on nurses who will serve tribal communities; create and implement a mentorship program for doctoral students and a faculty development program; and leverage funding to support the center’s long-range activities and sustainability. 

Heather Young, Ph.D., G.N.P., F.A.A.N., Grace Phelps Distinguished Professor, director of the John A. Hartford Foundation Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, and director of Rural Health Research Development at the Oregon Health Science University School of Nursing, will present "When the Age Wave Hits the Shore: Implications for Caring for Aging Baby Boomers" at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 27 at Radisson University Hotel.

The alliance is part of a national initiative to strengthen the curriculum in geriatric nursing across all levels and cultures of educational programs through improved mentorship, faculty development, and communication. It was established through grants from the John A. Hartford Foundation, Evercare, and Sigma Theta Tau, Zeta Chapter.  

Founded in 1929, the John A. Hartford Foundation is a committed champion of training, research and service system innovations that promote the health and independence of America’s older adults.  Through its grantmaking, the Foundation seeks to strengthen the nation’s capacity to provide effective, affordable care to this rapidly increasing older population by educating “aging-prepared” health professionals (physicians, nurses, social workers), and developing innovations that improve and better integrate health and supportive services.  The Foundation was established by John A. Hartford.  Mr. Hartford and his brother, George L. Hartford, both former chief executives of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, left the bulk of their estates to the Foundation upon their deaths in the 1950s.  Additional information about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.jhartfound.org. 

The University of Minnesota School of Nursing is ranked among the nation’s top nursing schools. It is a leader in nursing research and has a combined undergraduate and graduate enrollment of approximately 850 students. The school produces 55 percent of the faculty in Minnesota’s public and private nursing schools, advanced practice nurses and nurses who can assume leadership positions. It is the oldest continuously-operated, university-based school of nursing. The School of Nursing is one of six schools and colleges in the Academic Health Center, one of the most comprehensive facilities for health professionals in the nation, fostering interdisciplinary study, research and education. For more information, visit www.nursing.umn.edu.