Life Review: Connecting Undergraduate Nursing Students with Older Adults

MOST HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS PRACTICING TODAY, INCLUDING NURSES, RECEIVED MINIMAL GERIATRIC CONTENT OR CLINICAL EXPERIENCES IN THEIR FORMAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS. Moreover, the negative perceptions or stereotypes of aging held by many practicing nurses and nursing students are barriers to choosing gerontological nursing as a career choice or specialty. Brown, nolan, davies, nolan, and Keady (2008) found that the quality of clinical placements during an educational program influenced the career choices of nursing students. When clinical placements were in environments where nurses practiced high standards of care and positive attitudes toward older adults, students voiced a more positive view of gerontological nursing (2008). in 1997, visionary nursing faculty at our university included gerontological nursing courses as part of the curricular revisions in the generic baccalaureate and rn to BSn programs. However, only the BSn course had a clinical component. Faculty teaching the rn to BSn gerontological nursing course wanted an assignment that would connect their students with community-based older adults. pairing students with an older adult mentor has been an effective strategy for providing medical students with positive learning experiences in geriatrics (Stewart & alford, 2006). this article describes the Life review assignment, which brings together undergraduate nursing students and older adults within the context of a nonclinical nursing course. this assignment has been used successfully for more than 10 years and has evolved so that it can now be included in an online, intense, five-week modular gerontological nursing course. The Life Review Assignment the original idea for using a Life review assignment in a gerontological nursing course was shared with the first author by Marion rowe, phd, rn, a member of the faculty of a sister school of nursing. dr. rowe's students interviewed older adults in long-term care facilities. the assignment was based on Butler's (1963) pioneering work in life review therapy, Erickson's (1963) psychosocial theory of human development over the lifespan, and Haight and Haight's (2007) structured review process. the purposes of the assignment are to provide students with an opportunity to: develop one-to-one interactions with an older adult who resides in the community, develop and refine students' communication skills, and examine successful aging through the lived experiences of an older adult. there are two components to the assignment: a single visit consisting of the life review interview and a written paper based on the interview. the interview should not exceed two hours, but if more time is needed, students may schedule another meeting. the older adult is asked to give consent and sign a permission form, electronically or in hard copy. one copy of the consent is given to the older adult and the original is given to the instructor for filing at the university. Interviews take place at a mutually convenient time and place. the student prepares for the visit, schedules the interview, and documents the date, time, and place of the interview with the older adult's signature on the consent form. after the interview, the student writes and submits a paper. Course faculty may randomly call some of the older adults to verify that the interviews took place. it has been the experience of the instructor that, occasionally, an interviewee will contact the instructor to discuss the interview. the permission form provides assurance that information shared during the interview is seen only by course faculty; where appropriate, it may be seen by peers in the class. initials are used in all written work to protect the privacy of the participants. Life Review Assignment Guidelines the student's objectives for the Life review assignment are as follows: Completing this assignment will enable the student to: a) conduct a life review with an older adult, b) understand the significance of the life story of an older adult, c) discuss the process of conducting a life review, d) identify possible legacies and their importance to elders, and e) describe the degree of ego integrity (Erickson's theory) reached by the older adult (on a scale of 0-10). …