Gerontology Nurse Practitioner Program

Valerie T. Cotter, MSN, CRNP Interim Program Director University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing Nursing Education Building Philadelphia, PA 19104-6096 Tel: .(215) 898-1795 FAX (215) 573-7496 E-mail: cottervt@nursing.upenn.edu

Penn's #1 ranked Gerontology Nurse Practitioner (GNP) Program prepares advanced practice nurse graduates who provide primary care services with an emphasis on improving quality of life for older adults through comprehensive functional, physiologic, and psychosocial assessment and management of health and illness. As life expectancies of older adults and persons with chronic illness increase, there is a growing need for primary care nurse practitioners to have competencies in the care of healthy and chronically ill older adults and their families. The content of the Gerontology Nurse Practitioner Program at the master's level in nursing is based on nursing, system, and biopsychosocial models and aging theories, and is designed to inform the master's student regarding issues of health and illness for older adults in the context of individuals, families, and society.

Gerontology nurse practitioners are uniquely prepared to promote health through individualized patient and family education and risk screening for health problems. Nurse practitioners approach chronic illness comprehensively, emphasizing the continuation of the patient's normal life style, occupation, family relationships, and leisure. Primary care provided by nurse practitioners has demonstrated such cost-effective and quality outcomes as decreased use of emergency visits, decreased complications, and better function in daily lives.

Clinical and theory courses in Penn's GNP Program focus on key development issues for older adults, health promotion and illness prevention, quality of life issues that emphasize older adults' dignity, function, and relationship to selves, others, and their world. Health and social systems that influence the lives and health of older adults are discussed in breadth and depth. The experience of the older adult across cultural and ethnic perspectives is emphasized. Specific clinical content on the critical health issues facing older adults such as dementia, nutrition, skin care, incontinence, functional independence, and quality of life are thoroughly examined.

Increasingly older individuals, families and society prefer to receive care based in their homes and community. Due to this growing need, we have developed a Home Care Option in Penn's Gerontology Nurse Practitioner Program. Students who choose this option take courses in home care concepts and epidemiology. Their clinical experience takes place in model interdisciplinary programs providing primary care to older adults in their homes. International students find this option appealing because of the global need to provide home based care for older adults.

Since 1982, graduates of Penn's Gerontology Nurse Practitioners have led distinct and innovative efforts in care of frail older adults in community and institutional settings. Alumni are clinical leaders who have advanced new models of gerontological nursing practice throughout the U.S. and abroad including the countries of Columbia, Taiwan, Thailand, and Japan. Penn's internationally recognized gerontological nursing faculty have interacted in clinical, educational, and research projects in Great Britain, Sweden, Jordan, Taiwan, Republic of China, Republic of South Korea, Australia, and Canada. New knowledge in gerontologic nursing science led by Penn School of Nursing researchers have changed practice in such areas as restraint-free care, improving function status, reduction in injuries, response to patient behaviors, and palliative care. Consequently, Penn's GNP graduates are clinical leaders who dissemination innovations in nursing science through their practice as primary care providers and members of interdisciplinary teams.

The Gerontology Nurse Practitioner Program is a graduate program that can be taken on a full or part time basis. The course work includes core graduate courses, electives, and a group of six courses that must be taken together, which the faculty call the "clinical courses."

As primary health care providers, gerontology nurse practitioners are responsible for the promotion of health for aged individuals and their families and for evaluation and management of acute and chronic health problems. Nurse practitioners base their practice on a distinct body of knowledge that is supported by a sound and growing body of research in nursing. As direct providers of primary care services, gerontology nurse practitioners emphasize improving quality of life for older adults through comprehensive functional, physiologic, and psychosocial assessment and management.

Opportunities for students in the Gerontology Nurse Practitioner program include:

• Dual Enrollment in the Adult Health Nurse Practitioner Program
• Enrolling in our Home Care Option
• Minors in Nursing Administration, Palliative Care (pending), Oncology

Graduates are eligible to become certified by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as Gerontology Certified Registered Nurse Practitioners (CRNP). Successful completion of the program qualifies graduates to apply for national certification from the American Nurses' Credentialing Center (ANCC).