Essential competencies and learning strategies for the education of nurses regarding care for older adults

Background: Due to the demographicchanges, the Dutch health care system faceshuge challenges with regard to the demand oncare for older persons and the competencies ofnurses / aides required to meet this demand. Arecent study in the Netherlands showed thatthe nursing (aides) curricula are not adequateto prepare nursing (aides) students for theaging population. On top of this the focus ofcare for older persons is changing; from treatmentof illnesses towards preservation of independency,self-management and participationin society. Older persons should have a moreactive role in the caring process and in decisionsconcerning their health and illnesses.The attitude of older persons is also changing;older people want to have a more active andassertive role in health care. This paradigmshift implies changes for the health care professionalsand for the way we educate nurses /nursing aides.Objective: To determine the essential competenciesand recommendations for educationalstrategies for the education of nurses and nursingaids regarding care for the older populationin different settings in health care.Materials and Methods: A draft version ofcompetencies was developed based on literature,reviewed by experts of the nursing / nursingaides schools and older persons. Thesecond version was discussed in a meetingwith geriatric teaching experts and representativesof the Dutch Nursing Association andthe Dutch Association for Residential andHomecare Organizations. The final versionwas approved by a steering committee withrepresentatives of health care institutes andolder persons.Results: A set of essential competencies forthe initial education of nurses/ nursing aideswas determined according to the seven rolesof the CanMEDS. Learning outcomes andlearning content were described for every role.Also seven recommendations for educationalstrategies were described.Conclusion: The set of determined competenciesand the description of the learning outcomesand learning content are better in linewith the changing values in care for the olderpopulation. The described content is changingtowards themes like maintenance of functionalindependency, self-management, supportautonomy and informal care, anti-ageism,healthy aging, multi-disciplinary collaborationand risk assessment. The challenge is to implementthese competencies into the educationalprograms of the Dutch nursing schools