Posted: 3/25/2010
The online Guided Care Nursing Course, offered by The Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing (IJHN), gives nurses the knowledge and skills needed to assess patient needs, monitor chronic conditions, and educate and empower patients to improve health and quality of life.
“Guided Care is a new solution to the growing challenge of caring for older adults with chronic conditions and complex health needs, and places nurses in the heart of medical homes” says IJHN Executive Director Jane Shivnan, MscN, RN, AOCN. The model was developed by a team of
researchers at Johns Hopkins University beginning in 2001, led by Dr. Chad Boult of the Roger C. Lipitz Center for Integrated Health Care. It ensures that a Guided Care Nurse, based in a primary care office, works with patients and their families to improve their quality of life and make more efficient use of health services.
The next six-week online Guided Care Course is begins May 10 and brings together faculty and clinical experts from the schools of Nursing, Medicine, and Public Health, and The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System. The course will be offered four additional times throughout 2010.
Participants complete about 20 hours of core content and learning activities, including five live webinars, and have access to an additional 20 hours of supplemental learning activities. Upon completion of the course, participants are eligible to take the online examination leading to the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s new Certificate in Guided Care Nursing.
According to a recent study by the Guided Care research team, chronically ill older adults who are closely supported by a nurse-physician primary care team are twice as likely to rate their healthcare as high-quality than those who receive usual care. The research, published online in the latest edition of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, found that after 18 months of a randomized controlled trial, Guided Care recipients rated their primary care significantly higher than usual care recipients with regard to coordination with specialists, support for self-management, and help received with setting goals, making decisions and solving health-related problems.
For more information about the Guided Care model, visit www.GuidedCare.org.
For more information about the online Guided Care Course, visit www.ijhn.jhmi.edu.