Penn State School Of Nursing Honored For Gerontology Education
November 28, 2000
Washington, D.C. -- The Pennsylvania State University School of Nursing recently received the 2000 Award for Exceptional Baccalaureate Curriculum in Gerontologic Nursing, presented by the John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing at New York University (Hartford Institute) in collaboration with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).

Second-place was awarded to the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing. Honorable Mentions went to Sacred Heart University Nursing Programs and Physical Therapy Program in Fairfield, Connecticut and to the Department of Nursing at Winston-Salem State University School of Health Sciences in North Carolina.

Winning curricula were selected for their innovative approach, demonstrated relevance in clinical settings, and ease of replication by other nursing schools and programs. Reviewers sought small, innovative, and promising programs, as well as larger, well-established curricula that could be showcased as proven models of excellence. Among other elements, such programs have separate, free-standing courses that focus on gerontology; use multiple clinical sites creatively; form partnerships with community resources; have faculty knowledgeable in and committed to geriatric nursing care; and integrate gerontological experiences into the overall curriculum.

"As older adults comprise a rapidly expanding segment of the U.S. population, geriatric care skills increasingly will become part of every nurse's repertoire," says AACN President Carolyn Williams, PhD, RN, FAAN. "These awards honor models of excellence that encourage the highest standards of gerontological nursing education, and AACN is extremely pleased to continue this collaborative effort with the Hartford Institute in coordinating and developing guidelines for this important initiative."

"We are delighted to be able to foster and showcase nursing schools in the forefront of meeting their responsibilities to adequately prepare students through outstanding geriatric curricula," says Mathy Mezey, EdD, RN, FAAN, professor of nursing education and director of the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing. "We are also delighted to partner with AACN in this effort."

Nursing is a school in Penn State’s College of Health and Human Development. The School of Nursing was created in 1989 from the former Department of Nursing. The baccalaureate program began in 1965, and in 1973 the master’s program was approved and the extended program for registered nurses–the first of its kind in the country–was developed. The associate degree program was added in 1991 at selected outreach campuses to help provide nurses to medically underserved regions of the state. In 1999, a Ph.D. program was introduced. The school's programs are approved by the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing and accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) and the Commission of Collegiate Nursing Education.

The Exceptional Baccalaureate Curriculum in Gerontologic Nursing Award , established by the Hartford Institute and presented in ceremonies October 22 at AACN's fall semiannual meeting in Washington, D.C., nationally recognizes schools and programs of nursing that exhibit exceptional, substantive, and innovative baccalaureate curricula in gerontological nursing education.

Editors: For information about this award, contact the Hartford Institute at 212-998-5568, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.nyu.edu/education/nursing/hartford.institute. Information is also available at AACN’s Web site at http://www.aacn.nche.edu. Sarah Gueldner, Director of the Penn State School of Nursing, can be reached at 814-863-0245 or by e-mail at .