New Directions | March 2022 |
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A Message From the President |
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Ageism can cause a decline in physical and mental health, social isolation, loneliness, financial insecurity, and ultimately a decrease in quality of life (WHO, 2022). As one of the many forms of inequity, ageism should be at the forefront of our minds as members of NHCGNE as well as when we conduct research, engage in practice, and educate the next generation of nurses.
Because JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) is on everyone’s mind, I will devote 2022 to ageism because, after all, we represent gerontologic nursing.
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Coronavirus and Older Adults |
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Coronavirus, Ageism, and Twitter: An Evaluation of Tweets about Older Adults and COVID-19 |
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On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a pandemic, followed by a national emergency declaration in the United States on March 13.1,2 As of April 7, 2020, this disease, initially identified in China in late 2019, had infected more than 1.3 million people in 184 countries or territories around the world, causing the death of approximately 75,000 people.3 In addition, COVID-19 has caused a significant strain on the capacity of healthcare systems across various regions of the world, leading to difficulties in providing therapy, particularly for patients in need of intensive care.
Initial reports from Wuhan, the epicenter of the pandemic, showed that one-half of all COVID-19 cases occurred in individuals aged 60 years and older, with a higher rate of complications and an increased risk of death among older adults.4 Additional reports from other countries with a high burden of COVID-19 cases, such as Italy or the United States, also show that case-fatality rates are significantly associated with age, with persons 85 years and older representing those at the highest risk of death.5,6 In addition, older adults living in long-term care facilities have been identified as particularly vulnerable to contagion, with some reports showing a high infection and lethality rate after outbreaks in skilled nursing facilities.7
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Fear of Coronavirus and Health Literacy Levels of Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic |
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The novel coronavirus, which is the main agent of the COVID-19, causes severe acute respiratory syndrome, and has taken the whole world under its influence in a short time.1,2 Although the risk of transmission of the disease is similar in all age groups, the severity and lethal effect of the symptoms vary according to age and immune system.3 Due to the weakening of both the anatomical and physiological natural defense systems and the immune system against pathogenic microorganisms with increasing age, COVID-19 cases have been seen more frequently in older adults.4, 5, 6 The decrease in T-cell number and functions due to shrinkage of the thymus gland with age and the decrease in B lymphocytes responsible for the humoral response may increase the severity of COVID-19.5
The world is aging. Globally, the rate of the population aged 65 years or over is expected to increase from 9.3% in 2020 to around 16% in 2050.7 In Turkey, the proportion of older adults within the whole population is increasing, too. Turkish Statistical Institute reported that the rate of the population aged 65 and over was 9.5% in 2020. The population of older adults is predicted to increase to 11% in 2023 and 16.3% in 2040.8 Older adults are a more vulnerable group and have a higher risk of death from the COVID-19. According to the data of Ministry of Health, older adults constitute 11% of the reported patients and 72% of deaths.9
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Distinguished Educator Spotlight |
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Take Action Now: Promote Healthy Ageing |
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Maggie Chan, DHSc, RN, FHKAN
Lecturer
The University of Hong Kong
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The World Health Organization has endorsed a proposal for a Decade of Healthy Aging (2020-2030) to foster healthy ageing and reinforce the urgent needs to implement actions to ensure older adults to maintain their functional ability and wellbeing.
What is Healthy Aging?
According to WHO, healthy ageing is defined as “the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables wellbeing in older age.” In that sense, older adults should be capable to do what they value. Functional ability is an important issue and comprises the intrinsic capacity and environment. Intrinsic capacity consists of physical and mental capacities that refers to older adults’ locomotor capacity, sensory capacity, vitality, cognition and psychological capacity. The environmental factors consist of policies, systems, services provided, innovative technologies, family support, culture and social attitudes and values (World Health Organization, 2021). Figure 1 illustrates the common foundation of functional ability, intrinsic capacity and environment (World Health Organization, 2019).
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Check Out This Great Read! |
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Capturing the attention of today’s nursing student is a challenge for any nursing educator (Brown, 2018; Day-Black, Merrill, Konzel-man, Williams & Hart, 2015). Nursing students, who are digitally con-nected, appreciate the use of innovative and active teaching strategies such as gaming to enhance their satisfaction and even enjoyment in their educational endeavors. In addition, the need to enhance tradi-tional learning facilitates their motivation and promotes effective learning. Nursing educators who incorporate the use of gaming into active learning teaching strategies in the classroom and/or clinical setting can effectively provide positive change to the learning process (Sharma, 2017; Xu, 2016). Learning can be seen to be exciting, may increase how the nursing student engages and retains the informa-tion, assists with problem-solving, increases the nursing students’ monitoring of their own abilities to learn, and most importantly, enables critical thinking skills (Verkuyl, Atack, Mastrilli, & Romaniuk, 2016. Gaming may also have the potential to assist nursing students in changing health-care behaviors leading to improved client out-comes in multiple health-care settings (Brown, 2018; Johnsen, Fos-sum, Vivekananda-Schmidt, Fruhling, & Slettebø, 2018). |
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HIGN Partnership with NHCGNE |
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We are proud to announce our new partnership with Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing. This partnership allows both organizations to provide benefits, opportunities, and collaborative activities that facilitate achievement of our missions. Together, we can promote outreach to a broader network of nurses interested in promoting the quality of care provided to older adults.
NHCGNE Members will receive the following benefits:
- 25% discount on HIGN Summer Scholars Program.
- 50% discount for NHCGNE faculty at member institutions on customized package(s) of HIGN online learning resources.
We would also ask that you advertise two of our newest course packages:
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Gerontological Certification Review Course
Created by HIGN, the Gerontological Certification Review Course is a collection of 13 individual, interactive online modules developed by NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing faculty and featuring the latest content to date.
These modules review knowledge of geriatric nursing and can be used with conventional test preparation for the ANCC Gerontological Nursing Certification Exam.
The course has the following modules, each comprising engaging graphics, in-depth material, and knowledge checks. Nursing Continuing Education is available for each module.
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Behavioral Health in Primary Care
Free Courses and Case Studies!
Topics in the BHPC Series Include: Depressive Disorders, LGBT Diversity Inclusion, Risk Screening, Social Determinants of Health, Substance Use Disorders, and Trauma-Related Disorders
Appropriate for RNs, LPNs, and other members of the interprofessional team. With each course, you will receive 0.5-1.5 Continuing Education Credits for nurses.
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JNP: The Journal for Nurse Practitioners is planning a special issue in January 2023 to update diagnostic and treatment information for nurse practitioners (NPs) about aging and health. If your clinical practice area or research involves these matters, we invite your submission for this issue.
We are interested in papers on promotion of healthy aging and prevention (primary, secondary, and tertiary) and management of conditions that present in older adulthood.
We are seeking feature articles (4500 words total) and brief reports based on pilot studies or QI projects, program evaluations, or policy issues (2500 words total), as well as NP education topics related to advanced practice gerontological nursing curricular innovations.
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Research Study Participants Needed |
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You are invited to participate in the research study entitled, “Perceived Effectiveness of Nursing Faculty of Clinical Video Simulation for Use in Nurse Practitioner Education”. This study is being conducted by my research team at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) School of Nursing. We are seeking nurse practitioner faculty members to provide feedback on the videos found here at this website: UNCG HRSA Videos. You will be asked to provide collective feedback on videos that you have incorporated into the nurse practitioner curriculum.
Participation in the survey is expected to take no more than 20 minutes of your time. Your participation in the study is entirely voluntary and there is no penalty if you do not participate. Your decision to participate or not participate will not be communicated to your employer, nor will it affect your employment in any way. Your participation is anonymous. You may withdraw from the study at any time. Absolute confidentiality of data provided through the Internet cannot be guaranteed due to the limited protections of Internet access. If you do participate in the survey, please be sure to close your browser when finished so no one will be able to see what you have been doing.
As a small token of thanks for your valuable time, if you complete the survey, you will be eligible to participate in a drawing for a $50.00 gift card.
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Laurie Kennedy-Malone PhD GNP BC FAANP, FGSA
Principal Investigator
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Scholarship Opportunities |
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University of Washington Post Doc Fellowships |
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The University of Washington, School of Nursing has a history of developing nursing scientists in the care of older adults. We are pleased to announce two Postdoctoral Fellowships in Gerontological Nursing to start Fall 2022. Funding is provided from private donors. The purpose of the postdoctoral positions is to prepare individuals for research careers in universities. The postdoctoral fellow will be supported for one year of training with a second year of funding available based on satisfactory progress in the first year.
All application materials are to be addressed to Basia Belza, PhD, RN, FAAN, FGSA, Director of the de Tornyay Center for Healthy Aging and submitted in Interfolio at apply.interfolio.com/102133. Deadline for first consideration is Thursday, March 31, 2022 at 5:00 pm/PST.
Questions about the position and/or application process can be directed to Ms. Heather Wicklein Sanchez, Manager, de Tornyay Center for Healthy Aging, at agingctr@uw.edu.
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Graduate Gerontology Healthcare Certificate |
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PhD Scholarships $150,000 University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center |
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The Reynolds Center of Geriatric Excellence, Fran and Earl Ziegler College of Nursing, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center announces $150,000 PhD Scholarships for full-time PhD study in Nursing, with a focus in adult and older adult healthcare. The Scholarship offers up to three years of support with a value of $50,000 per year for tuition and fees, conference travel and a monthly living stipend. The PhD Program is online providing strong individual mentorship with visits to campus for intensives. For more information, visit the following website:
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Multiple Tenure-Track or Tenured Positions Now Available |
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The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis seeks multiple tenure- or tenure-track faculty at the rank of assistant, associate or full professor. The school also invites applications from research teams of two or more faculty with productive, collaborative research programs.
We seek applications from candidates with productive programs of science and commitment to scholarship that aligns with the School of Nursing mission and research priorities:
- healthy aging and family caregiving across the life span
- health equity, social justice and health promotion in diverse populations
- healthy systems and enabling technologies
We invite applications from scholars with research programs that intersect with more than one of these areas.
In addition to conducting research, successful candidates teach in one or more of the school’s four programs: Master’s Entry Program in Nursing, Physician Assistant Master of Health Services, Doctor of Nursing Practice—Family Nurse Practitioner and the Nursing Science and Health-Care Leadership Doctor of Philosophy programs. The school especially seeks candidates with experience teaching qualitative research methods or health informatics.
For more information
If you are interested in more information, please send an email with your questions to
Please review the full position description, which provides guidance on the application requirements and recommendations to strengthen your application at nursing.ucdavis.edu/ourteam/join.
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Tenured Associate or Full Professor 2021-22 |
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The School of Nursing at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) seeks applications for full-time, tenured Associate Professor or Full Professor faculty position. An Endowed or Term Chair is available.
We seek a senior nurse scholar/leader, with a funded program of research, focused on clinical or population science (e.g., a program focused on social determinants of health which can contribute to national health policy discussion). Preferred areas of scholarship include palliative care, psych-mental health or aging. Advanced practice preparation is important, but not essential.
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Candidates must meet the academic and scholarly credentials to qualify for a tenured appointment at UCLA at either the Associate or Full Professor rank, including an earned PhD in Nursing Science, a defined program of research, and evidence of teaching and service excellence. Rank and salary will be commensurate with background and experience. The anticipated start date is July 1, 2022 |
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Assistant Dean for the
Gerontology Interdisciplinary Program
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The University of Utah, College of Nursing is seeking a qualified gerontologist for an administrative faculty appointment as an Assistant Dean for the Gerontology Interdisciplinary Program (GIP). This position will combine leadership, teaching, and scholarship in the Gerontology Interdisciplinary Program. The College of Nursing’s GIP includes an interdisciplinary MS program with a baccalaureate minor and graduate and baccalaureate certificate options. |
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Distinguished Educator in Gerontological Nursing Twitter Spotlight: Dr. Hyochol "Brian" Ahn is the Associate Dean for Research and Professor at the Florida State University College of Nursing.
Dr. Ahn's program of research enhances health and independence in vulnerable populations using innovative technologies to optimize pain and symptom management.
As a board-certified nurse practitioner with a strong background as a computer engineer, he is uniquely positioned to address critical gaps in research to improve pain and symptom management.
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Your generous donation will be instrumental in the development of new programs such as our new grant program, products and services that will enable us to sustain our efforts in strengthening gerontological nursing development and leadership.
The importance of your contribution cannot be overstated. In addition to all the work that you already do on behalf of older adults, this gift further demonstrates your personal commitment to prepare our country with a competent gerontological nursing workforce.
NHCGNE is a 501(c)3 organization and you can claim a deduction on your federal taxes.
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Say it with "Got Content"! |
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Next New Directions Content Submission Deadline:
March 2022
Deadline: January 20, 2022 (Publish February 5)
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Newsletter submissions should be sent to NHCGNE Staff at info@nhcgne.org with
NHCGNE New Directions Submission in the subject line.
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Do You Know Someone Who's Not Getting Our Newsletters? |
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Let us know of people who are not already receiving the News Digest mailing list for member schools. If you know of faculty or PhD students that are not receiving this - email us at info@nhcgne.org with their name and email address.
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