EXCERPT
As a nurse educator that teaches gerontological nursing in an undergraduate program, my goal is to ensure that all students are competent in caring for older adults in a variety of settings. I believe the most effective way to ensure such competence is to require a course, with a clinical component, in gerontological nursing, as well as identify other places in the curriculum where students’ competence in caring for older adults can be developed. A 2003 national survey of BSN programs indicated a significant shift toward more integration of gerontological nursing into the curriculum; however, fewer than one quarter of the programs have a required course in geriatric nursing (Berman et al., 2005).