Are Changing Demographics Influencing the Trend of Nursing Curricula in Massachusetts BSN Programs? Page 3

Another common theme addressed is the barriers to offering a stand-alone course in gerontology. The two primary barriers identified were curriculum overload and faculty preparation. Curriculum overload is when “content is constantly added to curricula to reflect advances in biomedical and nursing knowledge and important trends in the health care system in general and the discipline of nursing in particular, while little, if any, content is taken out” (Ironside, 2004, p. 6). Rosenfeld et al. (1999) and Gilje, Lacey and Moore (2007) identified curriculum overload as the greatest barrier to offering a stand-alone course. Rosenfeld et al. (1999) suggest that “programs should revise their curriculum to reflect the needs of the current and future health care markets and consider substituting gerontology for pediatrics” (p. 92). Rosenfeld et al. (2005) also recommended one strategy to solve curriculum overload. The authors “encourage programs to reconceptualize medical surgical nursing courses into geriatric courses by shifting the content and emphasis of existing medical surgical courses to more appropriately address the common response to illness and gerontological syndromes of older patients cared for on medical surgical hospital units” (Rosenfeld et al., 2005, p. 273).

Faculty preparation related to geriatrics and gerontology is a continuing issue because faculty preparation directly affects the offering and teaching of stand-alone courses (Gilje, Lacey & Moore, 2007). Rosenfeld et al. (1999) found that programs with at least one American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) certified faculty member were more likely to have a stand-alone gerontological course. “One third of the respondents recognized that ‘lack of qualified full-time faculty members’ is a barrier to incorporating gerontological content into the curriculum (Rosenfeld et al., 1999, p. 92). Grocki and Fox (2004) focused their study on nursing curricula, but did mention that “Nursing programs across the United States support the inclusion of gerontology…however, it appears to be difficult to find faculty well-prepared in gerontology” (p. 47). Rosenfeld et al. (2005) determined there was a drop in ANCC-certified full-time faculty from 42% in 1997 to 37% in 2003. The authors recognize that strengthening faculty expertise in gerontology remains an important priority for the profession because nursing faculty who are teaching specialty courses need to be adequately prepared to do so (Rosenfeld et al., 2005). Gilje, Lacey and Moore (2007) in comparing their study with Rosenfeld et al. (1999) were unable to determine if there was an increasing trend toward ANCC-certified faculty. Although in 2007, 69% of public institutions had at least one faculty member who was ANCC-certified compared to only 34% private institutions which is similar to the results found in 1997 (Gilje, Lacey & Moore, 2007). The authors suggest further exploration regarding the relationship between faculty preparation, the extent to which AACN competencies are addressed and the offering of a stand-alone course (Gilje, Lacey & Moore, 2007).

The current study was intended to further investigate gerontological content in nursing curricula and the barriers concerning offering a stand-alone course (if any) within the state of Massachusetts. The collected data was analyzed and compared to the national data that has been previously collected by Gilje, Lacey and Moore (2007).

DESIGN AND METHODS

The population studied was the Registered Nurse programs in Massachusetts according to the Massachusetts Board of Registration for the 2006-2007 academic school year (Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing, 2007). There are 16 Baccalaureate of Science Nursing programs that comprise the population (N = 36) (MBORN, 2007). CONT'D  

• Are Changing Demographics Influencing the Trend of Nursing Curricula? Page 4

by Kristen Morris, SN; Carol Eliadi, APRN, EdD, JD -


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