Gerontological Nursing Education in the Next Millennium

Ways of knowing and caring for older adults: a qualitative study of baccalaureate nursing students' perceptions

“…A general literature review was conducted to set the stage for the project and included references describing a range of content and methods used for undergraduate curricula in gerontology nursing. Recent concerns about gerontology nursing curricula were associated with meeting the potential health care needs of our aging population (Mahoney, 1993; Gioiella, 1993;Beyea, 1993;Halloran & Dean, 1994). Teaching methods to affect student attitudes and knowledge have been explored with varied issues identified such as frequency / focus of experience with older adult patients, and placement of gerontology content within the curriculum.…”

“…We are reminded that old age is considered an unrecognized minority culture that, like other minority groups, has been victimized, exploited, and oppressed (Markides & Mindel, 1987;Margolis, 1990;Butler, 1993). There are a number of methods to operationalize inclusive, connected, contructivist teaching, such as discovery, exploration, modeling, case study analysis, critical incident techniques, simulation and role play, reflection activity and reflective writing (Bevis & Watson, 1989;Diekelmann, 1990;Atkins & Murphy, 1993;Gioiella, 1993;Brody & Witherell, 1994;Halloran & Dean, 1994;Sorrell, 1994;Beck, 1995;Darbyshire, 1995;Nehls, 1995;Fox & Wold, 1996). These methods create a foundation for valuing experience and the transformational learning processes that have been referred to earlier.…”