Purpose : This descriptive study was conducted to project the number of Advance Practice Nurses (APNs) needed up to the year 2011 for welfare institutions (residental homes, nursing homes, nursing homes for people with severe illness, geriatric hospitals, public hospitals for people with dementia ), and acute care hospitals for elders.
Method : Necessary data and information were collected from various funded reports, professional literature, web-sites and personal visits to national and private institutions. The demand for geriatric APNs was projected based on one geriatric APN per residental home, nursing home, nursing home for people with severe illness, and one geriatric APN for every 70 beds in acute care hospitals, geriatric hospitals and hospitals for people with dementia.
Result : The projected number of geriatric APNs for welfare institutions and acute care hospitals is as follows : 1. The total projected number of geriatric APNs needed for welfare institutions in 2002 was 356, and for acute care hospitals, 402. 2. By the year 2011, the total number of institutions will be 1,777 and for acute care hospitals, 561-835.
Conclusion : The total number of APNs needed by the year 2011 was projected as 2,338-2,612. In order to match supply to need, the professional organizations and educational systems should identify strategies to initiate APN programs in gerontology at the masters level and at the same time standardize the curriculum across programs.
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