NYU College of Nursing’s Dr. Tara Cortes, PhD, RN, FAAN, Receives a $1.1M Advanced Nursing Education (ANE) Grant from HRSA

Newswise — New York University College of Nursing’s (NYUCN) Dr. Tara A. Cortes, PhD , RN, FAAN, has received a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Advanced Nursing Education Program (ANE) three-year, $1.1M grant for, “Interprofessional Care of Older Adults” (IPCOA). This innovative initiative will foster communication and collaboration between physicians and nurse practitioners with a focus on transitional care handoffs of patients with multiple chronic conditions.

In partnership with NYU’s School of Medicine (NYU-SoM), NYUCN is creating a post-master’s certificate program to address a need for adult advanced practice nurses (ANPs) in primary care to have advanced knowledge and skills in the management of frail, community dwelling older adults with multiple chronic conditions (MCC). Due to its focus on dual-eligible frail older adults, this project meets the funding preferences for substantially benefiting a practice population categorized as poor and/or medically underserved.

“A unique aspect of our proposal is that the IPCOA program partners ANPs and Primary Care Residents to foster collaborative learning which will improve older adult patients’ MCC treatment outcomes,” said Dr. Cortes. “From this learning collaboration, we will be developing a technology-enhanced and blended curriculum platform which will be replicable for a larger and more diverse group of healthcare professionals.”

The purposes of the IPCOA proposal are:• To implement an innovative, replicable, post-master’s certificate program for developing adult NPs with competencies to care for older adults with multiple chronic conditions in an interprofessional model;• To increase the number of NPs who have knowledge of the unique needs of older adults with multiple chronic conditions• To promote interprofessional, team-based learning opportunities applying shared didactic and clinical technology to the management of multiple chronic conditions in the continuum of care; and• To disseminate the program nationally to other nursing schools.

The specific objectives of IPCOA are that: • Aimed at training an interprofessional workforce to care for patients with MCCs, 100% of the NP and MD learners will demonstrate the ability to utilize the knowledge and skills endorsed by the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC), a national organization focused on better integrating and coordinating the education of nurses, physicians, dentists, pharmacists, public health professionals, and other members of the health care team to provide more collaborative and patient-centered care; • At least 45 NPs and 24 MDs will be educated to use an interprofessional model to care for older adults with MCCs; • 100% of the NP and MD cohort each year will complete the NYU3T synchronous and asynchronous curriculum; and • At least 5 nursing schools will adapt this post-master’s certificate program.

The NYU Teaching, Technology, Teamwork (NYU 3T) curriculum will be a backbone of IPCOA. NYU 3T provides opportunities for undergraduate nursing and medical students to learn, through online modules, strategies for successful team-based care, including: the roles of different professionals; communication and conflict resolution; interprofessional teamwork; and values and ethics. Funded by the Macy Foundation, NYU 3T is accessible through its own website (dei.med.nyu.edu/research/nyu3t).

“This project will enable us to build out NYU 3T by making the virtual patient and simulation experiences appropriate for advanced practice,” said Dr. Cortes. “We will also use the extensive resources from the Hartford Institute to amplify the didactic content on MCCs and IP.”

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About New York University College of Nursing The College of Nursing is one of the leading nursing programs in the United States. It offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing; Master of Arts and Post-Master’s Certificate Programs; a Doctor of Philosophy in Research Theory and Development, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. For more information, visit www.nyu.edu/nursing.About Hartford Institute for Geriatric NursingThe Hartford Institute seeks to shape the quality of health care that older Americans receive by promoting the highest level of geriatric competency in all nurses who deliver care. By raising the standards of nursing care, the Hartford Institute aims to ensure that people age in comfort and dignity. Its initiatives include education, practice, research, and policy. For more information, visit www.HartfordIGN.org.