UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State nursing faculty members and an alumnus, who is a rural health leader, are recipients of The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing’s sixth annual Innovation Award.
The winning article, "Improving Rural Geriatric Care Through Education: A Scalable, Collaborative Project," appeared in the July 2016 issue of The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing.
Authors include Ann Kolanowski, professor of nursing and psychiatry; Donna Fick, Elouise Ross Eberly Professor of Nursing and professor of medicine — both at Penn State; Harleah Buck, former assistant professor of nursing at Penn State; and Larry Baronner, alumnus of Penn State and rural health systems manager and deputy director of the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health, which is housed in the College of Health and Human Development at Penn State.
Sponsored by SLACK Incorporated, the award recognizes excellence in writing and evidence of the expansion and/or dissemination of knowledge in the field of nursing professional development related to creativity and innovation, innovative educational strategies, evaluation methodologies, documentation of changes in practice, or contributions to the development of new knowledge.
According to Lynore DeSilets, chair of the Award Committee, “The reviewers thought this article was unique, and provided information on an important project with goals to identify, mentor and facilitate an RN geriatric site champion in critical access hospitals (CAHs) to complete national certification in gerontological nursing. ‘Improving Rural Geriatric Care Through Education: A Scalable, Collaborative Project’ served to identify an area of education that can significantly impact health care for a rapidly growing segment of our population.”
Stephanie Arasim Portnoy, senior vice president of SLACK Incorporated, said, “The promising results of this project show training and educating geriatric nurse site champions increases the use of evidence-based practice and improves nurse-sensitive patient satisfaction scores in areas like communication and pain management. We applaud the authors for developing innovations that have the potential for wide-ranging impact, both for patients and for nursing education.”
The award winner was announced in the September 2017 issue of The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing.
The monthly Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing provides original, peer-reviewed articles on continuing nursing education. Directed toward all participants in continuing nursing education and staff development, the journal provides features including teaching tips, administrative angles and clinical updates, as well as offers contact hours in each issue.
SLACK Incorporated strives to deliver the best in health care information and education worldwide. Covering more than 20 health care specialties, SLACK publishes leading medical journals and newspapers, more than 250 medical and allied health books, and creates custom projects for a growing number of clients.