CARE at the UW-Madison School of Nursing
By 2050, just over one-fifth of the U.S. population will be age 65 and older. Medical advances have increased life expectancies worldwide, so we’re not alone. In fact, other countries will see more dramatic changes than the United States expects. Due in part to low fertility rates, one-quarter of China’s population—some 335 million people—will be …
Heart failure is a serious and growing problem, especially for older adults. It’s the only major cardiovascular disease that’s increasing in prevalence, and is the most common diagnosis for hospital patients age 65 and older. Good follow-up care, including taking medications properly, making healthy diet choices and monitoring changes in condition, is necessary to manage …
The world of the certified nurse assistant (CNA) is full of contradictions. They describe their work as monotonous, stressful and dangerous—but also rewarding. They provide nearly all the direct care for older adults in long-term care settings, and frequently wind up being the main liaison between family members and licensed care providers. Yet they are …
If the discussions during CARE’s Careers in Aging Week event on April 9th could be summarized in one sentence, Suzanne Purvis did so. “What we do to fix our communities for older people fixes it for everybody,” stressed Purvis, a clinical nurse specialist in geriatrics at UW Hospital and Clinics. The same is true of health …
We all need exercise to stay healthy, no matter what our age. But maintaining activity is not easy—only one of two people who start an organized exercise program stick with it. For older adults, regular physical activity can not only improve their health, but also increase their chances of remaining independent. What types of exercise are …
It’s not surprising that nurse residencies—ten-week to year-long transition to practice programs offering targeted training and mentoring—are increasingly popular among new nurses and their employers. By better supporting nursing staff, residencies improve the quality of care and increase nurse retention rates. The clear benefits have led the Institute of Medicine to recommend nurse residency programs across …
A collaboration that began twelve years ago while Barbara Bowers, PhD, RN, FAAN, associate dean for research and Charlotte Jane and Ralph A. Rodefer Chair at the UW–Madison School of Nursing, was doing research and teaching part of the year in Australia, has blossomed into a globe-spanning partnership between Bowers and Australian Catholic University sociology …
As America’s population ages, the demand for nurses trained to care for older adults is growing. By 2030, adults over the age of 65 are expected to make up 20 percent of the U.S. population, and advances in medical care mean that this population lives longer and becomes frailer and is more acutely ill as it …
Around the UW–Madison School of Nursing, graduate Melanie Krause, PhD, RN, is somewhat of a “household” name. She was always a student that would make the time to connect with as many faculty and staff as she could, even if they studied pediatrics and she studied older adults. As the first graduate of the school’s Early …
Celebrating the research of Dr. Eileen Porter Dr. Eileen Porter’s research interests have their roots in her childhood: the small Kansas town in which she grew up had a robust intergenerational social network. Porter spent a lot of time with her grandparents and their friends and developed strong bonds with the older adults in the …