While the turkey (and leftovers) have long been consumed, dishes washed, and guests departed, we continue to give thanks at the John A. Hartford Foundation for the work of our grantees to improve the care of older adults.
Today, we thank the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) for their 3.5 years of partnership with the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence (NHCGNE). And with great excitement, we announce that, effective January 2016, the National Hartford Center will relocate to the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing in order to build on the success achieved to date at GSA and to enhance the momentum of our growing membership.
Since 2000, the focus of the work of the National Hartford Center has been to prepare new academic gerontological nursing leaders and enhance the gerontological nursing expertise of current faculty. Much has been accomplished during the National Hartford Center’s time at GSA: the center has grown its annual Academic Leadership Conference and married the work of the National Hartford Center with that of our more than 300-plus nursing alumni member organization (formerly known as the Hartford Gerontological Nursing Leaders).
Moreover, while at GSA, the National Hartford Center’s membership increased to 60 institutions working collaboratively to promote quality nursing care to older adults.
“The Society has been honored to serve as the multi-disciplinary home for the National Hartford Center,” says GSA Executive Director and CEO James Appleby, MPH. “GSA recognizes the wonderful work that has been accomplished toward the grant’s stated goals and looks forward to continuing its longstanding collaboration with the John A. Hartford Foundation.”
National Hartford Center Executive Director J Taylor Harden, PhD, RN, FAAN, agrees. “We thank GSA for our partnership and look forward to ongoing collaboration,” Harden says. “We are proud of our collective accomplishments, including our 281 pre- and post-doctoral gero expert nurses supported since 2000.”
The move to the National Institute for Geriatric Nursing is a natural fit.
“The missions of the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing and the National Hartford Center are very complementary,” says Hartford Institute Executive Director Tara A. Cortes, PhD, RN, FAAN. “We look forward to this partnership, which will enable us all to positively impact the quality of health and life for even more older adults.”
The Hartford Institute was founded in 1996 at the New York University (NYU) College of Nursing with the goal of shaping the quality of health care older Americans receive by promoting the highest level of geriatric nursing competence. The Hartford Institute has held steadfast through the years in its efforts to achieve excellence in its core competencies dedicated to meeting its goals: practice, research, education, and advocacy/policy.
The Hartford Institute has a long-standing history with the John A. Hartford Foundation; we made our first official nursing grant here in the 1990’s and the Foundation-spawned projects from the Institute have endured long after our funding ended. The Hartford Institute has the resources, respect, complementary vision, and well-established Web presence to serve the members of the National Hartford Center well.
“The New York University College of Nursing has long been a leader in geriatric nursing and we are thrilled to partner with the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence to further increase the capacity of nurses and health professionals to address the growing need for the highest quality of life for older adults,” says NYU College of Nursing Dean Eileen M. Sullivan-Marx, PhD, RN, FAAN. “The richness that will come about as a result of this partnership will teach students, embrace consumers, and lead the way in geriatric research and care.”
As we continue into the holiday season, we thank both GSA and the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing for their support of the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence. Through the work of the National Hartford Center, we are able to give the greatest gift of all: better care for older adults.