Safety of Older Adult Patients Is Theme of Annual NICHE Conference

      The NICHE (Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders) Program can count 17 new hospitals among its members following this year’s conference, held in February in Orlando. NICHE, a program of The Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing at NYU’s College of Nursing, is a best-practices program focused on improving the care of hospitalized older adults, as well as the education of health care professionals about the differing needs of these patients.
      NICHE, which includes 285 hospitals in the U.S. and Canada, held its 12th annual conference this year with the theme of “Patient Safety: Evidence-Based Solutions for Quality Geriatric Care.” Attendees included nurse administrators, nurse executives, nurse educators, geriatric advanced practice nurses, geriatricians, registered nurses, and geriatric team members including pharmacists, rehabilitation therapists, and social workers.
      “Patient safety is a critical issue for all health care organizations, particularly for those caring for older adults, and we’re seeing heightened expectations of quality by both consumers and regulators,” said Elizabeth Capezuti, the Dr. John W. Rowe Professor in Successful Aging at NYU’s College of Nursing and co-director of the Hartford Institute.
      Pictured above is Lorraine Mion, Independence Foundation Professor at the Vanderbilt School of Nursing, who highlighted the challenges and opportunities for nursing and health care organizations that are arising in the new era of “pay-for-performance.”