Kelly Negrin

Nursing education in Canada is facing a serious challenge. Population aging means that most nurses will be caring for older adults and, as such, preparation of a nursing workforce equipped with the necessary and specialized gerontological knowledge has to begin in undergraduate nursing programs. Nurse educators must ensure that they are preparing nursing students and newly graduated nurses capable of providing optimal care for older adults. While recent evidence suggests a trend toward increased gerontology content in Canadian undergraduate nursing programs, there are still too few faculty prepared with the requisite knowledge in gerontology.

Much of the literature addressing nursing education's need to prepare a nursing workforce adept in the care of older adults has focused on nursing students. However, nursing faculty have a key role to play in students' attitudes toward and preparation to care for older adults. That there are not enough faculty with expertise in gerontology is an important consideration in this impending crisis. A scarcity of literature exists which explores nurse educators' learning needs related to nursing care of older adults, or the barriers and facilitators which impede or support their acquisition of gerontological knowledge. I envision that my dissertation research will address this topic and will, ultimately, contribute to enhancing the quality of nursing care for older adults.