- Email: [email protected]
Exploring Our Roots: NCGNP Pioneers, Part 2
settings. As part of the project, she also provides training to nurses in standards of care for persons with IDD and quality review. Tracey holds a double degree in nursing and criminal justice with a minor in public administration from the Florida International University and holds a certification in forensic nursing from the University of Miami. She is currently a master’s candidate in a blended role GNP/CNS program at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida. 0197-4572/07/$ - see front matter © 2007 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.gerinurse.2006.11.009
EXPLORING OUR ROOTS: NCGNP PIONEERS, PART 2 In 2006, the Historical Committee of the National Conference of Gerontological Nurse Practitioners (NCGNP) initiated an effort to preserve the intimate knowledge, experience, and perspectives of members regarding the growth and development of the geriatric nurse practitioner role since the founding of the organization in 1981. This column continues to provide short portraits of some of our pioneers. It is hoped that through their examples, we can all grow in pride and strength as we explore our roots.
Colleen Ruth Broderick, GNP; Montana, NCGNP Pioneer in Nursing Home Care Colleen Ruth Broderick was one of the first students to seek preparation as a nurse practitioner as a part of the original initiative of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation to improve the care of older adults by providing quality primary care not usually available to nursing home patients. The students were recruited from nursing homes in the western states, provided with support for tuition and a small stipend, and sent to undergo preparation in 1 of 5 universities in a continuing education format. Mrs. Broderick shares memories of that experience. ⴱⴱⴱ For me to attend the University of Colorado, even with the financial support of the Kellogg Foundation, my husband and I had to sell a car and find full-time childcare for our 2 preschool children. My husband wanted to know why this was so important to me, and I told him that I wanted to contribute to making nursing in long-term care facilities a respected and knowledge-based role of caring for the elderly. John Gerdes, a respected hospital ad-
44
ministrator and college instructor, was the person who most motivated and encouraged me in this process. The medical director, of the nursing home where I had been working, Charles Trush, M.D., agreed to be my preceptor. I completed the course and was credentialed as an adult nurse practitioner—the first in Montana. Once in this new role, all of us found considerable barriers in the development of our roles. The barrier of acceptance from other nurses was great. Physicians who liked us as people nevertheless felt we had no business making decisions in “medical care.” Licensing boards agonized over our ability to prescribe and on a daily basis we had to tell ourselves we were making a difference. We knew we needed to keep networking, organizing, and supporting one another to continue our role development. Fortunately, near the end of the educational program, as we gathered for our last class in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, we had worried how we could continue our professional education and support each other as we developed this new and innovative role. Dr. Mary Opal Wollanin, the head of the University of Arizona’s gerontology program, encouraged us to take responsibility for our own education. The result was the beginning of what would become NCGNP. Della Parks, GNP, hosted the first conference of the Western Conference of Geriatric Nurse Practitioner at Mt. Angel, Oregon, in 1981. At the second conference in 1983, the organization’s name was changed from the Northwest GNP Conference to the National Conference of Geriatric (later Gerontological) Nurse Practitioners. We became incorporated and have grown ever since. The organization has changed over the years. From its origins as an organization for nurse practitioners in long-term care settings, specialty practice expanded to meet the needs of the role changes members were experiencing. Many of the newer NCGNP members did not work in the nursing home setting and instead were engaged in education, administration and private practice. So we found our ideas of what the GNP role looked like constantly changing. Early board meetings were lively and unpredictable. At times, it seemed the organization was being pulled into so many directions that it could not possibly survive. Geriatric education funding and resources increased and academic institutions began to produce serious gerontological nursing research. As I look back over this evolution, I am struck with the authenticity of the proverb “the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” It is incon-
Geriatric Nursing, Volume 28, Number 1
ceivable that anyone could have predicted the growth, depth and mission of today’s NCGNP. I have learned that the power to change the course of the future depends on small groups of committed persons believing they can make a difference, acting on faith and persistence. With anticipation, I
look forward to what the next generation of GNPs will bring forth. 0197-4572/07/$ - see front matter © 2007 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.gerinurse.2006.11.008
Geriatric Nursing, Volume 28, Number 1
45
EXPLORING OUR ROOTS: NCGNP PIONEERS, PART 2 In 2006, the Historical Committee of the National Conference of Gerontological Nurse Practitioners (NCGNP) initiated an effort to preserve the intimate knowledge, experience, and perspectives of members regarding the growth and development of the geriatric nurse practitioner role since the founding of the organization in 1981. This column continues to provide short portraits of some of our pioneers. It is hoped that through their examples, we can all grow in pride and strength as we explore our roots.
Colleen Ruth Broderick, GNP; Montana, NCGNP Pioneer in Nursing Home Care Colleen Ruth Broderick was one of the first students to seek preparation as a nurse practitioner as a part of the original initiative of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation to improve the care of older adults by providing quality primary care not usually available to nursing home patients. The students were recruited from nursing homes in the western states, provided with support for tuition and a small stipend, and sent to undergo preparation in 1 of 5 universities in a continuing education format. Mrs. Broderick shares memories of that experience. ⴱⴱⴱ For me to attend the University of Colorado, even with the financial support of the Kellogg Foundation, my husband and I had to sell a car and find full-time childcare for our 2 preschool children. My husband wanted to know why this was so important to me, and I told him that I wanted to contribute to making nursing in long-term care facilities a respected and knowledge-based role of caring for the elderly. John Gerdes, a respected hospital ad-
44
ministrator and college instructor, was the person who most motivated and encouraged me in this process. The medical director, of the nursing home where I had been working, Charles Trush, M.D., agreed to be my preceptor. I completed the course and was credentialed as an adult nurse practitioner—the first in Montana. Once in this new role, all of us found considerable barriers in the development of our roles. The barrier of acceptance from other nurses was great. Physicians who liked us as people nevertheless felt we had no business making decisions in “medical care.” Licensing boards agonized over our ability to prescribe and on a daily basis we had to tell ourselves we were making a difference. We knew we needed to keep networking, organizing, and supporting one another to continue our role development. Fortunately, near the end of the educational program, as we gathered for our last class in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, we had worried how we could continue our professional education and support each other as we developed this new and innovative role. Dr. Mary Opal Wollanin, the head of the University of Arizona’s gerontology program, encouraged us to take responsibility for our own education. The result was the beginning of what would become NCGNP. Della Parks, GNP, hosted the first conference of the Western Conference of Geriatric Nurse Practitioner at Mt. Angel, Oregon, in 1981. At the second conference in 1983, the organization’s name was changed from the Northwest GNP Conference to the National Conference of Geriatric (later Gerontological) Nurse Practitioners. We became incorporated and have grown ever since. The organization has changed over the years. From its origins as an organization for nurse practitioners in long-term care settings, specialty practice expanded to meet the needs of the role changes members were experiencing. Many of the newer NCGNP members did not work in the nursing home setting and instead were engaged in education, administration and private practice. So we found our ideas of what the GNP role looked like constantly changing. Early board meetings were lively and unpredictable. At times, it seemed the organization was being pulled into so many directions that it could not possibly survive. Geriatric education funding and resources increased and academic institutions began to produce serious gerontological nursing research. As I look back over this evolution, I am struck with the authenticity of the proverb “the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” It is incon-
Geriatric Nursing, Volume 28, Number 1
ceivable that anyone could have predicted the growth, depth and mission of today’s NCGNP. I have learned that the power to change the course of the future depends on small groups of committed persons believing they can make a difference, acting on faith and persistence. With anticipation, I
look forward to what the next generation of GNPs will bring forth. 0197-4572/07/$ - see front matter © 2007 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.gerinurse.2006.11.008
Geriatric Nursing, Volume 28, Number 1
45