New Aging Foundation Provides Nursing Research Grant
Sigma Theta Tau International to Develop Nurse Competency Assessment Web Tool

Washington, DC – The Foundation for the Future of Aging has awarded its first grant to Sigma Theta Tau International Foundation for Nursing, which plans to develop a Web-based geriatric nursing knowledge assessment tool that can assess nurse competencies in providing quality long term and skilled nursing care. The Foundation and grantee anticipate that this tool will be especially useful for registered nurses leading nursing care teams in skilled nursing facilities.

"We are very proud to receive this first grant from the Foundation for the Future of Aging,” remarked Marcia Stanhope, RN, DSN, FAAN, who serves as board chair of the Sigma Theta Tau International Foundation for Nursing. “The Web tool that Sigma Theta Tau International will develop with this grant, in partnership with the John A. Hartford Foundation Centers of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, will provide yet another resource to advance nurse leadership, and scholarship in the growing field of long term care and services,” Stanhope concluded.

This year, more than 3 million Americans will be cared for in one of the nearly 16,000 skilled nursing facilities nationwide. Nearly half of those receiving long term care are older than 85 and suffer from multiple co-morbidities, while a growing number are admitted for short stay, transitional care, or rehabilitation before returning to their homes and communities. 

“The Foundation for the Future of Aging is committed to addressing workforce-related issues as America faces an acute shortage of registered nurses and other caregivers just as the demand for skilled care is on the rise,” said Jan Thayer, board president of the Foundation for the Future of Aging. She continued, “It is with great pleasure that we award our first grant to the dedicated nurse educators and nursing professionals from Sigma Theta Tau International and look forward to honing in on workforce issues identified with the use of this new nursing assessment tool.”

For more information about the Foundation for the Future of Aging, please visit
www.future-aging.org or contact Elaine Dalpiaz at (202) 661-2187.  

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The Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the learning, knowledge, and professional development of nurses committed to making a difference in health worldwide. Founded in 1922, the honor society has inducted more than 400,000 members in 86 countries. Members include practicing nurses, instructors, researchers, policymakers, entrepreneurs and others. The honor society's 469 chapters are located at 586 institutions of higher education throughout Australia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Ghana, Hong Kong, Japan, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, The Netherlands, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Swaziland, Sweden, Taiwan, Tanzania, the United States and Wales. More information about the honor society can be found online at www.nursingsociety.org.