Gerontological competencies for entry-level professional nursing: Alignment with AACN Essentials

Background: The Recommended Baccalaureate Competencies and Curricular Guidelines for the Nursing Care of Older Adults was published in 2010. The core competencies for professional nursing education were published by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) in 2021. This article describes the process of developing new gerontological nursing competencies aligned with the AACN core competencies (Essentials). Methods: A three-phase process was used to develop and validate the gerontological nursing competencies. For the first phase, the National Hartford Center for Gerontological Nursing Excellence convened a workgroup of gerontological nursing education experts to review and align competencies for nursing care of older adults to the new AACN Essentials, resulting in 39 competencies. In phase two, another group of gerontological nursing education experts reviewed the 39 competencies and provided feedback for further revision. The third phase used a Delphi process with experts in gerontological nursing practice and education with the final result of 37 validated gerontological nursing competencies. Results: The 37 gerontological nursing competencies mapped to all the AACN Essentials domains and 43 of the 45 main competencies. Conclusion: Nurses, as frontline healthcare providers, are strategically positioned to address the complex health needs of older adults. Incorporating gerontological nursing competencies into the curricula is essential to guide faculty in the preparation of nurses competent in caring for older adults.