College of Nursing (NYUCN) faculty members Ann Marie P. Mauro, Mary T. Hickey, Donna E. McCabe, and Emerson Ea published an article, “Attaining Baccalaureate Competencies for Nursing Care of Older Adults Through Curriculum Innovation,” in the May/June 2012 Nursing Education Perspectives—a special edition devoted to nursing education in the specialized and growing field of gerontology.

In the article, the authors describe NYUCN’s approaches and methodology to the college’s curriculum redesign in order to integrate baccalaureate geriatric competencies for students and to develop instructional methods to meet changing educational demands. Begun in 2010, the redesign was informed based on the emerging literature, feedback from clinical partners, and an understanding of the complex health-care needs of older adults.

“There is a need to transform nursing education to meet the demands of an aging population with complex health needs in a dynamic health-care environment,” says Mauro. “This requires faculty development, curriculum redesign, and integrative teaching strategies that contextualize learning and provide students with opportunities for reflection and critical thinking.”

NYUCN has integrated geriatric content throughout its baccalaureate curriculum and also transformed traditional “medical-surgical” nursing courses in fundamentals, acute care, and gerontology into Adult and Elder Nursing I, II, and III to enhance competencies in providing quality, safe nursing care to older adults.

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