While many discussions regarding healthcare reform are occurring in our nation these days, the focus of those conversations are primarily on “health insurance reform.”
The focus of the show tonight is on “health care (delivery) reform” and highlights the work of nurses to provide state-of-the-art geriatric nursing care to older adults through a program known as NICHE: Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders. The program begins with an overview of the history and mission of NICHE, followed by three healthcare systems that have embraced the NICHE model?to improve the quality of care for hospitalized older adults: MedStar Health, Inova Fairfax Hospital, and Duke University Health System.
NICHE is celebrating it’s 25th year this week at the 2017 Annual NICHE Conference in Austin, Texas April 19-22. NICHE is an initiative funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation in 1992 to assist hospitals with implementing systematic institutional improvements to improve geriatric care. The NICHE program focuses on developing protocols and programs that are under the control of nursing practice in order to improve nursing care of older patients. The protocols are primarily focused around “geriatric syndromes” and include aspects of care related to assessing cognitive function, delirium, and pain as well as preventing falls, pressure ulcers, and skin tears. NICHE currently has 751 active sites in the United States, Canada, Bermuda, and Singapore.
Beginning in 2015, NICHE has also been funded to move into long-term care (NICHE-LTC) with support by the John A. Hartford Foundation. This grant aims to improve the quality of care delivered to older adults in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and post-acute rehabilitation settings.
Both programs aim to provide comprehensive training programs and assessment tools, mentoring resources for nursing leadership teams, and a quality designation to support organizational change.
Tonight’s Guests include:
- Mattia J. Gilmartin, PhD, RN: Executive Director, NICHE & NYU Meyers College of Nursing
- Maureen McCausland, DSNc, RN, FAAN: Chief Nursing Officer, MedStar Health
- Dierdre Carolan, PhD, PhD, ANP-BC, GNP-BC: Inova Fairfax NICHE
- Eleanor McConnell, PhD, RN, GCNS-BC: Duke NICHE
Show originally aired April 17, 2017
[DISPLAY_ULTIMATE_SOCIAL_ICONS]About Melissa:
Melissa Batchelor, PhD, RN, FNP, FGSA, FAAN. I am a nurse, nurse practitioner, nurse educator and nurse researcher with over 25 years of experience in the aging and long-term care healthcare space. You can visit my website at MelissaBPhD.com to learn more about me, how you can work with me directly,
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