School of Nursing Awarded John A. Hartford Foundation Grant, Opens MN Hartford Center for Geriatric Nursing Excellence

Contact:
Aneisha Tucker, School of Nursing, 612-626-1817, tucke127@umn.edu
Laura Stroup, Academic Health Center, 612-624-5680, stro0481@umn.edu

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (Sept. 28, 2007) - In order to meet the Upper Midwest’s critical need for nurses with expertise in caring for older adults, the University of Minnesota School of Nursing has been awarded $1.5 million dollars from the John A. Hartford Foundation and the University of Minnesota to open the Minnesota Hartford Center for Geriatric Nursing Excellence (MnHCGNE).

The center will focus on increasing the number of quality faculty who will provide academic leadership and expertise in geriatric nursing at colleges and universities in the Upper Midwest and at Tribal Colleges across the nation. These educators will serve populations in the greatest need of geriatric nursing expertise. In the Upper Midwest, North Dakota and South Dakota have the highest proportions of adults aged 65 and older, and Minnesota and Wisconsin rank in the top 15 states in the nation for adults aged 85 and older. And while the American Indian population has a smaller percentage of elderly adults, their elders become disabled at younger ages and with more severity, die earlier, and live in areas where there are few nurses and little funding to care for them.

In order to reach these high-need populations, the MnHCGNE has developed several services, programs, and initiatives including a summer education program for existing Upper Midwest nursing faculty, a geriatric nursing mentorship program, and the American Indian Nurse Faculty and Tribal College Initiative. The Tribal College Initiative, which aims to increase the number of faculty with geriatric nursing expertise in Tribal College nursing programs in the United States, is the only one of its kind in the nation.

With the opening of the MnHCGNE, the School of Nursing hopes to further establish its Upper Midwest Geriatric Nursing Alliance, a group of 25 nursing schools including Tribal nursing colleges, whose goal is to strengthen and infuse geriatric nursing curricula at all levels by encouraging dialogue among the schools in its regional network."This new center will be a resource to all of the Upper Midwest nursing programs in terms of teaching geriatric nursing care," said Jean Wyman, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., F.S.G.A., director of the MnHCGNE. "Through the alliance, members will work on identifying curriculum gaps related to geriatric care in their schools, and develop plans for addressing them. Opportunities for collaboration in curriculum development will also be fostered through networking in the alliance," she added.

The MnHCGNE will begin its work at the University of Minnesota immediately. However, the center’s physical space will not be ready until later this year. For more information about the MnHCGNE, visit www.nursing.umn.edu.

The University of Minnesota, School of Nursing, ranked among the nation's top nursing schools, is a leader in improving health care through research, education, and service. Its nationally and world-renowned scientists discover practical health care treatments and solutions people can use today to improve their daily lives. The oldest continuing university-based school of nursing in the nation, it has a combined undergraduate and graduate enrollment of approximately 800 students. The school educates 55 percent of the faculty in Minnesota's public and private nursing schools, advanced practice nurses, and nurses who can assume leadership positions. The School of Nursing is part of the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center, one of the most comprehensive facilities for health professionals in the nation, fostering interdisciplinary study, research, and education. For additional information on the University of Minnesota School of Nursing, go to www.nursing.umn.edu. 

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 and Pacific Tea Company, left the bulk of their estates to the Foundation upon their deaths in the 1950's.  Additional information about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.jhartfound.org.