![[Case Western Reserve University -- Toolbar]](/pix/lowpro.gif)
Posted 12-20-99
The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Foundation has awarded Case Western Reserve University's Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing $700,000 to expand its Gerontological Nurse Practitioner Program, a master's level program that prepares nurses for advanced practice to care for elderly adults in a variety of healthcare settings. Beverly Roberts, professor and associate dean for academic programs, is directing the project.
The Prentiss grant will be used to develop new courses, including a course on policy issues relevant to the health of older adults. Clinical experiences also will be expanded to include nursing care specific to the needs of older adults in hospitals and nursing homes and those living independently at home. This expanded coursework, combined with the master's core curriculum, will lead students toward careers as certified gerontological nurse practitioners (GNPs).
There is already a demand for GNPs, and this demand is likely to increase in the near future, according to Dorothy Brooten, FPB dean and professor.
"There will be a tremendous increase in the number of elderly adults in the next 20 years," Brooten observes. "In 1990, there were 32 million adults over the age of 65 -- 13 percent of the population. The number of older adults will increase to approximately 52 million, representing 22 percent of the population, by the year 2030."
Because there is such urgent need for GNP services, a portion of the grant money will be used to offer eight full scholarships. This will encourage talented candidates to pursue continued education and help fill the critical need for GNPs.
As principal investigator for the project, Roberts will oversee the program's expansion. Georgia Narsavage, associate professor and director of the master's program, will direct the curriculum expansion. Evelyn Duffy, an instructor and a certified GNP, will act as faculty coordinator.
The Prentiss Foundation, which has funded FPB projects in the past, is awarding the grant in three payments over three years.
Michael Minnaugh of the foundation says the Prentiss Board of Managers has found that the school's GNP program is consistent with the goals set forth by Elisabeth Severance Prentiss in her creation of the foundation in 1939. "We believe that this financial support will assist you in improving the quality of medical care that is provided to members of the Greater Cleveland community," he said.
FPB also offers nurse practitioner programs with specialties in adults, families, neonatal care, and pediatric care.
![[Toolbar]](/pix/ribbon.gif){kind=small}