Thus we feel that the most prudent path is to select among the best options when a choice will not wait, and, where waiting will not interfere with proposed strategic initiatives, to delay investing Hartford Institute resources until there is greater clarity in the technology field. The elderly living independently in the community receive health promotion and illness management that often fail to incorporate salient issues of culture and race. Elderly patients, needing assistance to maximize their function, comfort, and dignity, whether in the community or in institutions, often receive care from nursing staff whose cultural, ethnic, and economic backgrounds differ greatly from their own. Missing from most educational materials and from programs for the practicing nurse are specific strategies that can enhance the health of older people from diverse backgrounds. The Institute can play a key role in identifying and disseminating culturally sensitive materials and models for geriatric nursing education, practice, and research.
Nursing education takes place in associate, baccalaureate, and graduate programs.
With support from the Kellogg Foundation, associate degree nursing programs already have access to strong curricula in geriatrics. Also, Federal funding supports graduate preparation of advanced- practice geriatric nurses. On the other hand, no initiative has systematically sought to assure the inclusion of geriatrics in baccalaureate nursing programs. Data show that baccalaureate-prepared nurses are the nurses most likely to deliver care to the elderly or to supervise that care. The baccalaureate-prepared nurse assures that care focuses on maximizing the elderly patient' s function, comfort, and dignity.