We would like to thank you for anoutstanding edition of Geriatric Nursing,Vol. 20, No. 3! It is “keeper” for those in-volved in the care of the long term careresident.

The use of alternative care and thera-pies in the long term care setting is gainingrecognition among professionals in this in-dustry. The nursing professionals and care-givers in long term care will be able toutilize many techniques without need ofprescription. Certainly with professionalleaders such as Dr. Eliopoulos touting thebenefits of alternative therapies, we willmove closer toward enhancing the qualityof care and life of our residents.

Again, we wish to commend you andyour staff for providing this special editionon alternative care. Also, we wish to con-gratulate Dr. Eliopoulos for her recogni-tion as a Leader in Geriatric Nursing.

Joan Schleue-WardenExecutive Director/Founder,National Association of Directors of Nursing Administration in Long Term Care

Kathy Fletcher said I should let you know of a recentacknowledgment. Last August, an article written by me andEva Burnett, one of the GRNs here at [University of VirginiaHealth System], was published in Geriatric Nursing. The arti-cle, “A Case Report: Special Needs of Hospitalized Elders,”was based on a patient we discussed in GRN rounds onemorning.

Recently I was contacted by two medical surgical facultyat the University of San Fransciso who had used the article topilot an on-line clinical discussion with students in their un-dergraduate program. The students loved the on-line experi-ence and the use of the case study. The faculty (Sue Malloyand Mary Lou DeNatale) felt the article was wonderful forstimulating discussion not only about clinical issues but alsoto raise questions about ethical and research concerns.

They submitted an abstract for a poster presentation onthe use of on-line discussions with students in clinical settingsto the Sigma Theta Tau Biennial Convention in San Diego inNovember, and it was accepted. Needless to say, we are verypleased that the article was well received and used in thisway and to let you know of the ripple effect of the NICHEwork.

Virginia K. Lee, MSN, RN, CS, ANPClinician 4, Senior Services,University of Virginia Health System Charlottesville, Va.

We are delighted to announce that, beginning withthe January/February 2000 issue, we will feature a newsection dedicated to geriatric nursing management.This section will be coedited by Bernie Gorek ofGreeley, Col., and Cheryl A. Ciechomski of Portland,Maine. This management section will provide a forumfor nurses in health care management positions to pre-sent and discuss the many challenges they face.

This section will explore many aspects that affectthe lives of managers and leaders in health care organi-zations that care for geriatric residents and patients. Wewill examine all aspects of leadership relative to geri-atric nursing, especially the long-term care (LTC) arena.Look for dialogue with leaders, exploration of new caremodels, articles on staffing and leadership training, bestmanagement practice examples, and much more.

In addition, we will provide legislative and regula-tory updates that have an impact on the health care ofolder people. We also will focus on innovative ap-proaches to providing quality programs and services toelderly people in a variety of health care settings. Pro-

viding quality, cost-effective care in the highly regu-lated, severely scrutinized LTC industry is an ongoingchallenge. Succeeding as a manager in all areas ofLTC requires innovation, creativity, clinical skills, andperseverance.

We will feature articles written by a broad cross-section of managers, as well as offer opportunities fordialogue through questions and responses. Generalnews that affects geriatric nursing managers also willbe noted. The best source of support to managers isopen, clear communication with other leaders. This sec-tion will strive to be a home page for such communica-tion. We hope to provide an opportunity and forum forsuccessful managers to share their expertise and learnfrom one another.

We are excited about this new endeavor and thinkyou will find it to be a wealth of information for you inyour practice.

Bernie Gorek, GNP, MS, and Cheryl A. Ciechomski, RN, MS

To the Editor

New Feature for Geriatric Nursing Beginning in 2000

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