Geriatric interdisciplinary team training has long been a goal in health education with little progress. In 1997, the John A. Hartford Foundation funded eight programs nationally to create Geriatric Interdisciplinary Team Training (GITT) programs. Faculty trained 1,341 health professions students. The results of the evaluation, including presentation of new measures developed to assess interdisciplinary knowledge, are presented, and the implications of the program as a model of interdisciplinary education are discussed. Evaluation data from 537 student trainees are presented. At posttest, GITT trainees demonstrated improvement on all measures of attitudinal change, no change on the geriatric care planning measure, and a change in some of the questions on the test of team dynamics that varied by discipline. Changes were greatest for all the attitudinal measures with the self-reported Team Skills Scale indicating the most significant change--a change that is significant across medicine, nursing, and social work trainees.

Purpose With a shortage of primary care providers prepared to care for an aging U.S. population, nurse practitioner (NP) programs are integrating gerontological content. This qualitative descriptive study explored NP graduate perceptions on the adequacy of their education to prepare them to care for seniors. Methods Twenty‐three graduates of NP program options at two universities in the western U.S. participated in focus group discussions or interviews. Participants shared their perceptions of their NP educational preparation and suggestions for enhancing gerontologic curriculum. Conclusions Four main domains emerged from analysis of qualitative data: (a) “Getting your boots on and getting into the role”; (b) “Older people are more complex than we were prepared to care for”; (c) “It is very different as a provider, but I am so glad I was a nurse with experience first”; (d) “NPs have a scope of practice, physician assistants (PAs) have a job description‐but I wish we had their [procedural] preparation.” Implications for practice Graduates identified a need for more educational content and clinical experiences specific to the care of older adults. Some suggested a postgraduate residency or mentoring option to assist NP role transition and progression and limit role confusion.

Purpose Medication reconciliation is a National Patient Safety Goal. Completing medication reconciliation minimizes the risk for preventable adverse drug events (ADEs). The elderly are at greatest risk for ADEs because of their high number of comorbidities and medications usage. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to improve medication management in a geriatric primary care practice. Interventions focused on improving medication reconciliation documentation, improving accuracy of medication lists, reducing inappropriate medication use, and minimizing duplicate medication therapy. Data sources A pre/post design was used over a 9‐month period. Interventions focused on educating providers, staff, and patients on medication management. Analysis of 1580 manual chart audits and 903 patient questionnaires were completed. Conclusions Outcomes improved in all four performance outcomes: medication reconciliation—χ2(1, N = 576) = 32.00, p < .0001, V = 0.4; patients bringing medications to clinic—χ2(1, N = 277) = 90.46, p < .0001, V = 0.7; reduction in use of specific medications—χ2(1, N = 267) = 19.49, p < .0001, V = 0.3; and duplicate therapy was reduced—χ2(1, N = 267) = 45.13, p < .0001, V = 0.5. Implications for practice Improved medication management had a significant impact in patient safety and quality of care in this clinic.

Where in my body can I get a Candida infection? Candida infection can happen in almost any part of your body. Usually it develops on mucous membranes (in the mouth, genitals, etc.) but the infection can also be in your bloodstream. When Candida is in your bloodstream, the condition is called Candidemia. Candida infection can spread from your bloodstream to other parts of your body (such as your eyes, kidney, liver, and brain). If this happens, it is called Invasive Candidemia. Who is higher risk of getting Candida infections? People who are healthy do not usually get Candidemia. Healthy people however, may get a Candida infection in their mouth (called thrush) from taking certain drugs such as inhaled corticosteroids used to treat asthma and COPD. You are at higher risk of developing Candidemia if you: