Employer Quotes

The quotes below are about this issue:
There is a need for more training and experience in geriatric care to work with the aging population and in long-term facilities.

Employer Quote	Region
"I'm wondering whether some sort of coursework. or concentration, for those that are interested in working with the elderly—if there was an emphasis for people to be able to move in that direction? To understand these complex seniors that are, on average, 85-years-old? If people are interested in working in that field, then there has to be more specialized training."	Central
"Think of that employee that's in the hospital, for instance. And you have your elderly patients going to the hospital. I stood outside of the emergency room, right outside of a hospital here, and a resident was screaming because she was afraid. I had the EMT in front of me say, 'You should have heard her on the way over, but she's finally quiet. She has dementia—she doesn't understand what's going on.' She was put on a gurney, and she didn't recognize the faces, and she was whipping by the lights, and she was afraid. But some people don't understand that part of it—to just understand the concept that she was afraid, and that's how she was communicating it. It's just frustrating to me to stand there and to hear them say that."	Central
"Anybody that's worked in the area knows how many are coming up, and how soon people are diagnosed with dementia, and how fast it can progress for some of them. Most nurses just don't have that experience."	Central
"Employer 1: Coming from the memory care side, it's really hard to find nurses that have experience with dementia and Alzheimer's patients. I need somebody who is going to know medications and who knows what's going on. Because that person may not be able to communicate in order to say, 'I have pain,' or 'I have these needs.' It's hard to find nurses that have that experience. And you can't throw somebody in that's never had experience with dementia and say, 'Here you go. This person is hitting out—or whatever it may be—how are you going to deal with that?' I think it's scary for some nurses. Employer 2: It's a lack of exposure to that type of behavior."	Central
"I'd have more geriatric information and more geriatric training across the board. Because, even if we're not focusing on the last two or three years of life, across the board, you're going to have older, more chronic, more complicated cases when patients present."	Northeast
"We need more people who are geriatric-focused."	Northeast
"When folks present, they're going to present with more complicated and more serious issues. And probably more geriatric. So, that kind of specialty information is important, whether it's a class along the way or even a special focus."	Northeast
"I don't know that in higher education there's much emphasis on geriatrics or gerontology. I think most of the nurses are trained in acute care, and then when they get into the long-term setting we have to train them on geriatric care, hospice care, how to do rehab, and how to work with therapists. It just doesn't seem like they come out ready for long-term care."	Southeast
"I would agree that the curriculum doesn't prepare nurses for long-term care. And I think we, as long-term care providers, would be willing to be a resource to the colleges if they wanted some help in offering a course or at least getting more knowledge in that."	Southeast