TY - JOUR
T1 - Teaching the care of older people in Australian nursing schools : survey findings
AU - Fetherstonhaugh, Deirdre
AU - Rayner, Jo-Anne
AU - Solly, Kane
AU - Beattie, Elizabeth
AU - Harrington, Ann
AU - Jeon, Yun-Hee
AU - Moyle, Wendy
AU - Parker, Deborah
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Background: Meeting the complex health needs of an increasing number of older people is a critical workforce challenge for the Australian health and aged care sectors. Nurses are the largest group of registered health care professionals and fundamental to delivering health and aged care in Australia. However, while nursing students encounter increasing numbers of older people in all health and aged care settings, little is known about how they are educationally prepared to care for them. Aim: To investigate the curriculum content and method of teaching the care of older people in Australian Bachelor of Nursing degrees. Methods: A population sample of all Australian nursing schools offering Bachelor of Nursing degrees. Nurse academics involved in subject coordination or curriculum development were recruited. A telephone-assisted survey explored ‘the care of older people’ in Australian undergraduate nursing curricula. Descriptive statistical analyses were undertaken. Results: The response rate was 100%. Curricula were acute care focused with content specific to the care of older people scaffolded across curricula. A variety of teaching and learning methods were reported. Clinical experiences with older people occurred in residential aged care settings, generally in the first year of the degree. Conclusions: Preparation of pre-registration nurses for the care of older people requires improvement in curricula content and clinical experience to equip graduates to provide safe, person-centred care that meets the needs of older Australians.
AB - Background: Meeting the complex health needs of an increasing number of older people is a critical workforce challenge for the Australian health and aged care sectors. Nurses are the largest group of registered health care professionals and fundamental to delivering health and aged care in Australia. However, while nursing students encounter increasing numbers of older people in all health and aged care settings, little is known about how they are educationally prepared to care for them. Aim: To investigate the curriculum content and method of teaching the care of older people in Australian Bachelor of Nursing degrees. Methods: A population sample of all Australian nursing schools offering Bachelor of Nursing degrees. Nurse academics involved in subject coordination or curriculum development were recruited. A telephone-assisted survey explored ‘the care of older people’ in Australian undergraduate nursing curricula. Descriptive statistical analyses were undertaken. Results: The response rate was 100%. Curricula were acute care focused with content specific to the care of older people scaffolded across curricula. A variety of teaching and learning methods were reported. Clinical experiences with older people occurred in residential aged care settings, generally in the first year of the degree. Conclusions: Preparation of pre-registration nurses for the care of older people requires improvement in curricula content and clinical experience to equip graduates to provide safe, person-centred care that meets the needs of older Australians.
UR - https://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:75635
U2 - 10.1016/j.colegn.2022.02.007
DO - 10.1016/j.colegn.2022.02.007
M3 - Article
SN - 1322-7696
VL - 29
SP - 873
EP - 879
JO - Collegian
JF - Collegian
IS - 6
ER -