Background: Gerontological nursing is not a career choice for most new graduates. Nurse educators, who influence students' career decisions, lack expertise in older person care. The academic culture may affect educators developing gerontological expertise.
Purpose: The study explored the culture of a Canadian pre-licensure nursing education program in relation to educators' expertise in gerontological nursing.
Methods: In a focused ethnography, 22 nurse educators/researchers/administrators participated in interviews and/or observations conducted from March 2018 to December 2018. Content analysis of interview transcripts and fieldnotes occurred concurrently with data collection.
Results: Themes characterizing the culture were: Structure and Hierarchy, Losing Gerontology, Teaching Challenges, and Valuing Older Persons and Their Care. Participants felt: a hierarchy limited gerontologists' support for undergraduate educators and the curriculum; the integrated curriculum reduced the focus on gerontology; limited professional development opportunities and excessive workload constrained building gerontology expertise; and valuing older persons and their care influenced access to gerontology resources.
Conclusions: The culture of a pre-licensure nursing program impacted educators building expertise in older person care. More research is needed to overcome barriers that constrain educators' proficiency in gerontological nursing. Increasing the number of educators adept in gerontology will develop nurse graduates with an appreciation for working with older persons.
Keywords: Culture; Focused ethnography; Gerontology; Nurse educator; Nursing education; Older person.
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