Partnering to Educate Nurses in Long-Term Care.

ABSTRACT

Despite a 2008 national call to retool a health care workforce for an aging America, the geriatrics-trained workforce is declining while the U.S. population continues to age. Formalized academic-practice partnerships between long-term care facilities and schools of nursing are one response to strengthening the work-force caring for older adults. This article details the activities of an intentional, synergistic, 3-year partnership between National HealthCare Corporation (NHC) and University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Nursing. The partnership focused on providing continuing education and leadership development for NHC nurses while also providing nursing faculty with access to clinicians and patients in long-term care for the purposes of education, research, and quality improvement. The ultimate goal for both partners was improved patient outcomes. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2020;51(2)75-81.].