State-of-the-art education for case management in long-term care

In 1991, the School of Nursing at San Francisco State University initiated a master's degree program in case management/long-term care. It was one of the first programs in the country to take a broad view of long-term care to include client populations from infancy through old age and to prepare nurses at the graduate level in the case management role. This article describes the methods for developing the program, identifies major areas of professional competence in case management, describes the program and major teaching approaches, and presents preliminary evaluation findings. The experience at San Francisco State may provide other nursing faculty, staff educators, and case management trainers with helpful information for developing educational programs and continuing education courses in case management.