NICHE [Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders] this week announced its next Leadership Training Program (LTP) will begin June 11.

The LTP trains an interdisciplinary hospital team to begin the process of increasing the quality of care for older adult patients at their facility and achieving NICHE designation.

Registration information for the web-based program is available at http://nicheprogram.org/LTP.

Less than 1 percent of RNs and fewer than 3 percent of advanced practice registered nurses are certified in geriatrics, according to the American Geriatric Society. Hence, better preparing hospital staff to meet the special needs of older adult patients is the goal of NICHE for the LTP.

The LTP offers a blended learning approach where participants engage in a rigorous 6-week program delivered via a web-based platform and facilitated by the NICHE team, including mentors who currently lead or have led NICHE programs in their hospitals.

The online program was launched in 2009 to replace the annual conference-based program. Since its inception, more than 162 hospitals and 650 individuals have participated in the online program. NICHE has more than 350 member hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout North America. 

LTP participants:

• Engage in online activities complemented by practice-based assignments
• Participate in live webinars
• Work with NICHE faculty who facilitate online discussion forums and webinars, answer questions, and share experiences
• Access comprehensive NICHE program topics and project management tools
• Participate in a mentoring program
• Earn 38 contact hours for continuing education credit
• Receive assistance by a NICHE expert to develop an hospital action plan

Three people responsible for steering the NICHE initiative at the facility should attend the LTP session. This typically includes a nurse clinician leader, a clinical educator, and an administrator, manager or quality person. NICHE designated hospitals can use this opportunity to train additional staff for their NICHE team.

The Geriatric Institutional Assessment Profile, an extensive web-based assessment of the hospital's readiness to implement geriatric programs, is included in the program at no cost. Participating hospitals also receive registration fees for one participant to attend the pre-conference workshops at the annual conference and discounts for attendance at the annaul 3-day NICHE conference.

Upon designation as a NICHE facility, hospitals pay an annual designation fee that includes access to a vast array of resources, ongoing evaluation tools, professional mentoring, and access to the NICHE community. 

A program of the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing at New York University College of Nursing, the vision of NICHE is for all patients 65-and-over to be given sensitive and exemplary care. For more information, visit  www.nicheprogram.org.