Gerontological nursing competencies: A crosswalk with the 4Ms framework of the age-friendly initiative

The Age-friendly Health Systems Initiative is a current multidisciplinary movement driving quality improvement across all health care settings. The 4Ms framework (What Matters, Medication, Mobility, and Mentation) provides a common evidence-based language and system of care that can be utilized by all health care providers. Faculty of one nursing program were interested in knowing whether the principles and language of the 4Ms framework align well with the current competencies used to guide undergraduate and beginning level practice for nurses. To answer this question, a crosswalk of curricular and competency guidelines for gerontological nursing was completed to identify how well the competencies aligned with the key concepts of the evidence-based 4Ms framework. Key findings of this crosswalk are being shared with educators for the purpose of describing a systematic way to ensure that the 4Ms are integrated into gerontological curricula and course design. The steps taken to complete the crosswalk are described to guide educators across all disciplines interested in creating curricula that will adequately prepare students to be collaborative partners and leaders in Age-friendly Health Systems.