NICHE-HIGN Updated Hospital Geriatric Nursing Competencies Aligned with Age-Friendly 4Ms

[Sponsored] Hospital geriatric nursing competencies foster excellence in addressing the unique care needs of a rapidly aging global population. There is a longstanding shortage of nurses and other clinicians with specialized geriatric knowledge and competence. Recent changes in the nursing workforce in hospitals, such as pandemic-related turnover and retirements, have added complexity to the shortage. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity report recommends geriatric nursing workforce development initiatives to address social determinants of health. 

Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE) and the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing (HIGN) convened a workgroup of nurse experts to update the 2012 HIGN geriatric nursing competencies for registered nurses practicing in acute care settings. The competencies are reorganized according to the Age-Friendly Health System movement’s 4Ms framework—what Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility.  This whitepaper summarizes relevant literature, recommends a core set of clinical competencies for nurses to effectively care for older adults, and suggests tactics to create and sustain workforce development programs to achieve age-friendly nursing care. As the drivers of geriatric nursing excellence, nurse leaders are the key to fostering the inclusion of updated competencies in nursing workforce development.