The Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing,in collaboration with the Nursing Organization Liaison Forum (NOLF) of the American Nurses Association, recently announced the Year 2000 Hartford/NOLF Award recipients. This year's selected associations, the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing and the Emergency Nurses Association were honored for demonstrating exceptional effort in bringing geriatric best practices to their membership. The award ceremony took place at the NOLF/NFSNO annual meeting in October Nashville, TN.
Both the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing and the Emergency Nurses Association were chosen as Hartford/NOLF Award recipients because of their endeavors to create a geriatric presence in their organization's activities. Some of their efforts included holding geriatric workshops at annual conferences, showcasing geriatric best practice information in their journals and newsletters, establishing geriatric special interest groups, and creating geriatric-specific courses.
"All nurses in the course of their careers care for older adults and need the knowledge and skills to do it well," said Mathy Mezey, EdD, RN, FAAN, director of the Hartford Institute. "In particular, nurses with specialty expertise have a specific professional view that for many does not include geriatrics. This award is part of our Specialty Nursing Activities Partnership Program for Care of Older Adults (SNAPP) initiative. By bestowing this award, we are strengthening our partnerships with specialty nursing organizations, in order to assist their nurses in acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary to help individuals age with optimal function, comfort, and dignity."
An additional component of the SNAPP initiative includes sending a Conference Education Resource Center for Care of Older Adults to a number of specialty nursing conferences in the U.S. The booth, supported in part by a grant from the Avon Products Foundation, Inc., includes: aging sensitivity materials, geriatric literature, curricula and training materials, a listing of gerontologic websites, and materials from a number of national geriatric organizations.
In conjunction with the Conference Education Resource Center, SNAPP provides technical assistance to national specialty nursing associations. This includes maintaining an on-line resource website with links to gerontoloical Internet information, publishing and distributing Try This, a series of best practice assessment tools, and helping to create geriatric nursing interest groups and geriatric information columns in newsletters.
"We are delighted with the positive response we have received from nursing specialty organizations," said Dr. Mezey. "And we are grateful to the American Nurses Association and NOLF for their appreciation of the significance of best nursing practice for older adults."
The John A Hartford Institute Foundation for Geriatric Nursing at New York University's goal is to set a national agenda and shape the quality of health care for elderly Americans by promoting the highest level of competency in the nurses who deliver that care. By raising the standards of nursing care, we aim to ensure people age with optimal function, comfort and dignity.
The Nursing Organization Liaison Forum was established by the American Nurses Association in 1989. It's purpose is to provide a forum for discussion between national nursing organizations and ANA regarding questions of professional policy and national health policy which are of mutual concern. It also seeks to promote concerted action by national nursing organizations on professional policy and national health policy issues, as participating organizations deem appropriate.