Rachael Watman, bottom right, and her high school Latin Club. Rachael Watman, bottom right, and her high school Latin Club.

I was a member of the Latin Club in high school. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I became the Treasurer. We were not as big as the Spanish Club or as organized as the German Club, but we had dedicated members.

We understood the value of our organization and the benefits that came with membership: the sharing of expertise (read: accessible help with Latin homework), a cohort of like-minded students with an interest in a shared topic (read: a group of kids who liked Latin and stood stronger together), and a unified platform to advance our mission (read: the successful collective lobbying of our school administration to use the cafeteria for our annual “Chariot Races”—a wildly dangerous sport with Radio Flyer wagons).

Indeed, membership has its benefits.

NHCGNE-logo_400pIn 2012, the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence (NHCGNE) housed at the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) under the leadership of J Taylor Harden, PhD, RN, capitalized on the expertise and energy of our nine founding Hartford Centers of Excellence to create a national membership organization. The National Center is dedicated to enhancing and sustaining the capacity and competency of nurses to provide quality care to older adults through: faculty development, advancing gerontological nursing science, facilitating adoption of best practices, fostering leadership, and designing and shaping policy.

There are currently 45 members of the National Center including academic institutions (with international schools such as University of Alberta and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University), national nursing organizations (like Sigma Theta Tau), and a hospital (Iberia Rehabilitation Hospital).

Members pay an annual fee of $3,000, which affords them a wealth of benefits. Here are just a few:

Consultancy/Partnership
NHCGNE members have access to distinguished leaders in aging and gerontological nursing. Consultant services are available for support of research, curriculum, program review, and teaching to promote quality care for older adults. Two hours of free consultation are available annually to member schools.

Clinical Research Planning Grant
Updated Deadline: June 1, 2015
This opportunity is open to NHCGNE member institutions only and is intended to provide a clinical research planning grant to support the planning activities needed for the successful execution of complex and multi-site clinical studies, including the development of a detailed study protocol and Manual of Procedures (MOP). Visit the NHCGNE website for detailed information.

Annual Nursing Leadership Conference
Nov. 17-18, 2015 (immediately prior to the GSA Annual Scientific Meeting)
Swan and Dolphin Resort, Orlando FL
Registration and housing will open in June; stay tuned to our website for details. Please note that each NHCGNE Member Institution is entitled to two free registrations to the Annual Academic Leadership Conference.

To showcase one of these benefits in action, we thought it would be helpful to share a bit on the consultancy. Drs. Claudia Beverly and Cornelia Beck, of member school the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, recently provided two hours of consultation (one hour with Dr. Beverly and one with Dr. Beck) to Dr. Juliette Shellman, associate professor at a new member school, the University of Connecticut School of Nursing. During the consultancy, they spoke on the submission of a federal grant as well as embedding geriatrics content in the undergraduate nursing curriculum.

“It was helpful to me because I felt that we are supporting her and the work she is doing,” Dr. Beverly says. “I think it was helpful to her as career advancement, what to do in the tight funding world we live in and how to develop a mechanism to get gero content in the undergraduate program. This is a good example of reaching out to a colleague who asked for support.”

Dr. Shellman concurs. “I found the process of setting up the appointment through the National Center very easy,” she says. “Everyone associated with the National Center was helpful and supportive. The feedback will be helpful for our school in terms of seeking funding and developing future gerontological nurse leaders. We will be sending students to the Leadership Conference in November.”

If you are an interested faculty member, university, national nursing organization, clinical site, or other (we welcome all types of members), please join us for our NHCGNE Webinar for Prospective Members this Thursday, May 28 at 1:00 pm EDT. We encourage you to join us and to invite colleagues from institutions who are not yet NHCGNE members to participate in this one-hour webinar and learn about NHCGNE benefits:

Through this webinar, we hope to translate the benefits of membership into meaningful
and collaborative opportunities for you and your organization.

Cui Bono? We all have something to gain by joining the National Hartford Center.

Please contact Michele Duchin-Watson (mduchin@geron.org; 202-587-2828) if you would like more information on any of these benefits.