Future directions for gerontology: a nursing perspective

This paper discusses the contribution nursing has made to the development of person-centred services, and the influence of gerontology upon such developments. It examines traditional attitudes to medicine and nursing, when curing was all-important and caring treated as secondary and the shift away from this attitude to a more holistic approach to nursing, where the dignity of the patient is an important issue. It argues that good practice utilizes different sources of knowledge, including intuitive knowledge, and discusses the integrated programme of policy, development, research and education activities that the Royal College of Nursing is developing. The options currently available to anyone wishing to study gerontology are discussed, and the pros and cons of the current emphasis on broad-based clinical and educational experience prior to specialization analysed. The key aim of the RCN is to develop the specialism of gerontological nursing and the quality of care experienced by older people. With this end in view, this paper describes the education programme being developed by the RCN, leading to the award of Gerontological Nurse Specialist--a person able to demonstrate knowledge of rehabilitation, clinical assessment, health care assessment and a holistic knowledge of the ageing process.