[brian]

Judy Bianco admits that it can be a tough sell. "We have a hard time attracting nurses into gerontological nursing," said Bianco, the head nurse in the Jewish General Hospital's geriatric unit.

Then again, she added, many of the student nurses who do internships on her ward end up loving this specialized slice of the nursing profession that cares for the senior population.

"It's so challenging," Bianco said. "Unfortunately, no one makes TV shows about gerontologic nursing. It's too bad, because this is a specialized part of nursing that spans the gamut."

The "gamut" to which Bianco refers is the physical, psychological and social.

"When you're nursing older adults, particularly those who are in failing health, the family is very involved in the care. In gerontologic nursing, we're looking at bio-psycho-social care and the entire patient in the context of the family and the community."

That's why the first question a geriatric nurse asks when assessing an out-patient, for instance, is not: Tell me about your health, Bianco said.

"The No. 1 question is: What is a normal day in your life like? We want to know the nitty-gritty of how the person functions. We want to know everything, including how they're going to get in and out of a bathtub. It's a bit like detective work. Patients are often surprised at how much time we spend on these questions. Older people may have multiple health problems that require time to understand."

Full Story: http://working.canada.com/resources/...8-c978f00244fd

[VivaLasViejas]

Thank you for the "plug", Brian! We geriatric nurses are the Rodney Dangerfields of the profession; in other words, we "don't get no respect"---from doctors, from families, from EMTs, from state surveyors.......not even from other nurses. But while ours may not be the most appreciated of specialties, we ARE specialists in caring for America's Greatest Generation, and for this geriatric nurse, that is worth more than all the accolades they can dish up!

[linzz]

I think this article is very interesting as I think that with the aging of the next generation, there will be a huge demand for care outside the hospital as many want to stay in their own home despite many obstacles. Also, here in Canada with the push for getting people out the hospital and into homes, there will be many changes with so many people needing care but just not hospital care.

[brian]

I have great respect for Geriatric Nurses! When I got out of nursing school 12 years ago, there was a nursing surplus (my how things change) at the time and I could not find a job in a hospital for anything, they all said that they wanted 1-2 years exp?? My nursing goals and aspirations were to do critical care and flight nursing.

As a new grad, the only nursing jobs I could find were in a Nursing Home, which at first I was bummed, I didn't want to do Geriatrics, but that was my only option at the time.

Long story short, I really enjoyed Geriatrics, it didn't take long before I had a new found respect for Geriatric Nurses. I learned so much from them! I ended up working in LTC for about 2 years and really enjoyed it, and eventually transitioned into critical care in CCU

The knowledge I gained while working in LTC was so valuable, the assessment skills, the independent thinking skills, and simply understanding the Geriatric population and their health issues were such an asset and came in handy working in Critical Care, which many of my patients in CCU were elderly as well. Some of my fondest memories of nursing are when I worked in geriatrics!

My hat goes off to all geriatric nurses!

[nightmare]

It seems that no matter what country you are in we are the 'Cinderella's' of nursing.The best kept secret is,we probably have more autonomy and responsibility than nurses in hospital.We maybe don't have all the bells and whistles of CCU/ITU (and I've been there)but we have a wide variety of illnesses in an aging population and it is certainly the best place to hone your nursing skills to perfection.