Clinical training opportunities for nursing students in the nursing home

The increasing proportion of older adults and the related increase in persons with chronic disease suggests increased attention to the training needs of nurses in care of the older adult.  Research has shown that nurses are less knowledgeable about aging than other health care professionals.  We propose that the nursing home offers an important training site for geriatric nursing and for care delivery in the sphere of supportive and rehabilitative care.  Educational experiences offered through the Teaching Nursing Home Collaborative, an initiative to partner nursing homes and academic programs, funded by a collaboration of nonprofit foundations, explored the opportunities and factors that support or thwart successful clinical teaching.  Factors included the nursing home environment, the faculty, and the interaction of faculty and nursing home staff. This manuscript outlines those findings along with a literature confirming the recommendations.  In addition, we propose a collaborative model for success in an academic-service partnership.