UNCW lecturer earns geriatric nurse scholarship

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Interesting: UNCW lecturer earns $100,000 geriatric nursing scholarship | StarNewsOnline.com | Star News | Wilmington, NC

Melissa Aselage, lecturer in the UNCW School of Nursing, has received a $100,000 scholarship for her research leading to improvements in the quality of care for elders.

The two-year Pre-Doctoral Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity scholarship, funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation and the Atlantic Philanthropies, will be used to support her doctoral training and help her to generate student-interest in careers in geriatric nursing.

Aselage attributes her scholarship partially to her development of podcasts that assist educators with teaching students geriatrics health care concepts. Since their release April 1, the podcasts have received nearly 250 hits from 21 states.

Aselage, who teaches gerontology/end-of-life care and health policy, stated, "There is a nursing shortage and currently there are not enough geriatric nurses to meet the needs of our increasingly older population."

In 2000, the U.S. Census reported that older adults comprise about 12 percent of the U.S. population, 36 million people, and projections indicated that aging baby boomers will double this number to 70 million by 2030.

Recognizing this potential health care crisis, Aselage developed podcasts to teach undergraduate nursing students geriatric health care. To better understand the ideas associated with geriatrics, students listen to the podcasts prior to class, then in class they discuss case studies that reinforce the concepts to which they have already been introduced. Aselage previously integrated podcasts into her own classes with great success.

"When students tell me that they are listening repeatedly to gerontological nursing content while they walk their dog at the beach and ride in their cars, I know we have found a method that engages today's nursing student," stated Aselage.

UNCW student Danielle Cray helped edit podcast materials. She also co-wrote the script for the case study that was interwoven throughout the PowerPoint and podcast. Cray believes that the podcasts will serve as a great tool to better educate nursing students.

She said, "The podcasts will provide a different approach to learning, instead of the traditional classroom lecture. Also, the material has been condensed, which will allow students to focus in on key points and gain the knowledge they need more easily."

UNCW SON partnered with the NYU Hartford Institute of Geriatric Nursing and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing to develop the podcasts to teach students across the country.

Aselage recently recorded the remaining six modules at the last Geriatric Nursing Education Consortium.

For Aselage, the podcasts are an extension of a passion for geriatric nursing. She became interested in geriatrics at her first job at Britthaven Northchase, a Wilmington residential nursing center, and moved on to earn both her bachelor of science in nursing and master of science in nursing from UNCW, and is currently working to obtain her doctorate degree at the Medical University of South Carolina.

The BAGNC scholarship will fund all expenses associated with travel to conferences, a stipend to UNCW to cover her release time and MUSC tuition. In addition, she will make annual trips to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence to work with national leaders in gerontological nursing research.