Nurse to nurse: consultation in geriatric nursing practice.

The complexity of clients in today's health care environment requires a close, collaborative working relationship among disciplines. However, nurses, who are often key decision-makers in the planning, management, and movement of clients throughout the health care system, may not use the expertise of their best allies: nurses in other settings, institutions, and specialty areas. Many care problems-at home or in the hospital, nursing home, or rehabilitation center-can be effectively resolved by nurse-to-nurse consultation.

Nurses helping nurses. Development of internal specialists in long-term care.

The prevalence of psychiatric disorders and behavioral disturbances among nursing home residents, combined with observed deficits in geriatric mental health/illness expertise among LTC staff, supports the need for creative approaches to improve the knowledge, understanding, and management of such problems among LTC providers. The train-the-trainer model described in this article proved to be a viable method to providing geriatric mental health consultation and training that targets both improved quality of life for residents and quality of work life for the staff in charge of residents' care. More collaborative efforts among nursing specialists, subspecialists, and generalists are needed to empower those who work in LTC to utilize strengths and abilities inherent to their positions.

Geropsychiatric nursing consultation: a valuable resource in rural long-term care.

Psychiatric and geropsychiatric nurse specialists have the potential to positively influence the day-to-day care provided in rural nursing homes by acting as teachers, resource persons, facilitators, and role models to long-term care (LTC) personnel. The combined approach of training LTC nurses to train their own staff while supporting the application of learning with consultee-focused nursing consultation proved to be an effective and time-efficient method of improving the geropsychiatric nursing care provided in rural nursing homes.

An administrator's dilemma: keeping the innovative mental health and aging programs alive after the grant funds end.

Too often innovative and successful mental health and aging programs terminate when external funding sources end. This article describes one such project that has survived and even flourished well beyond the grant period. The original program is set forth, and changes in both the type of services offered and in the clientele are reviewed.

Mental healthcare for rural seniors. An outreach program in Cedar Rapids, IA, uses an integrated approach to break down barriers to care.

Several barriers prevent elderly persons, especially those living in rural areas, from receiving mental health services. The Abbe Center for Community Mental Health is breaking down some of these barriers in the Cedar Rapids, IA, area. The center's Elderly Outreach Project identifies and provides mental health services to the area's rural elderly.

Medication management, antidepressant drugs, and the elderly: an overview.

1. Several factors may affect an elderly client's use of medications: polypharmacy, potentially leading to interactions; over-the-counter drugs taken without a physician's knowledge; noncompliance or poor compliance with medication regimens; and ageist beliefs. 2.

Geropsychiatric education programs. Providing skills and understanding.

1. The treatment of mental health problems is a growing concern in long-term care facilities; up to 80% of nursing home residents suffer from some type of mental illness, but most receive no active treatment. 2.