Indian Health Geriatric Nurse Fellowship (GNF) Program

A: Send applications to Jamie Olsen. In the brief application form, applicants will note these requirements:

• Leadership endorsement of their participation by their clinical supervisor and the CEO or Health Administrator of their IHS, Tribal, or Urban Indian Health program and a commitment by those individuals to support the training, applied learning activity/project, and attendance at virtual and in-person meetings including protected time away from regular duties for participation
• Your commitment and acknowledgement of program requirements.
• Core and Specialty training selection or identification of alternative proposed curriculum(s).
• Brief description of tentative geriatric-focused topic and idea for a nurse-led applied learning activity.
• A commitment to participate in virtual Fellowship meetings, indication of interest in attending an in-person meeting in the Summer of 2025, and present a final presentation.
• Indicate any optional additional relevant advanced training or certifications of interest.

A: After you are notified that your application has been provisionally accepted, you must enroll directly in one of the approved training courses, following the usual process for training requests at your IHS, Tribal, or Urban Indian Health program.

• The training must be approved and paid for by your sponsoring IHS, Tribal, or Urban Indian Health program.
• The IHS Division of Clinical and Community Service (DCCS) will work with your IHS Area Office to reimburse your sponsoring program for the registration after successful completion.
• Do not pay for the registration personally. The IHS DCCS cannot reimburse you directly for registration costs and can only reimburse your IHS, Tribal, or Urban Indian Health program.

Final acceptance as an IHS Geriatric Nurse Fellows is contingent on documentation of enrollment in the training courses.

A: You have the option of identifying and requesting other geriatric training that may better meet your needs. However, you must be able to demonstrate participation in previous training or coursework that covered all elements listed in the Core curriculum.

The $1,000 budget limit applies, and the training programs must be submitted and approved with the application. Examples include, custom building your own specialty curriculum from individual courses available from:

• HIGN, available by reviewing their online catalog for courses or case studies. For more, visit HIGN.Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Assocation. See more on their website. Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• American Psychiatric Nurses Association. Visit them for more information Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA). See more at APNA Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 

A: Don’t overcommit. Most important, make sure the activity or project you propose is specific, measurable, and achievable within the 4-6 month timeframe given your current workload and commitments. It should also take into consideration the support you anticipate you will receive from your local program and leadership.

Talk with your supervisor, manager, nursing or clinical leadership to brainstorm activities or projects of possible interest. Consider activities that have the potential to also benefit your system or clinic.

Examples might include:

• Public health nurse who learns and incorporates cognitive (e.g., Mini-Cog© or AD8) or falls risk screening into their routine practice for all older at-risk adults.
• Community health presentation at a senior center or tribal meal site on the topic of your choice.
• Unit in-service or in-service series on the topic of your choice, with brief knowledge checks to track participant learning.
• Develop or adapt a medication safety brochure for distribution to older adults and their caregivers or family by clinical staff in your unit.
• Conduct assessment of baseline level of knowledge of staff, patients, or community on the topic of your choice and analyze findings – to create data that informs other future activities using existing tools.
• Work with an existing local health fair host to develop and offer a table for a geriatric focused assessment and brief patient brochure with follow-up information specific to the topic of your choice.
• Select an evidence-based intervention on risk reduction (or topic of your choice), go through the training, and create a plan to implement after the Fellowship presentation.
• Create and test a medication reconciliation process for older adults in collaboration with your pharmacy team.
• Develop and implement chart reviews or audit to gather baseline data about your population on the topic of your choice.
• Review and update a relevant policy or protocol based on current research and evidence.

A: Fill out the application as follows:

• If you have pre-authorization from your leadership and know you can and will attend, mark yes.
• If you are unsure due to dates or work commitments, but your leadership and you think you could attend, write "Maybe" in the box on the application and provide brief comments describing any possible issues that would impact attendance.
• Once the final in-person meeting dates are confirmed, applicants will be notified by email and have 30 days to withdraw or accept the travel reimbursement option and in-person meeting participation.

A: To ensure reimbursement:

• Do not pay for the registration personally. After you are notified that your travel and/or optional certification, credentialing, or advanced training have been authorized, you will follow the usual process for training requests at your IHS, Tribal, or Urban Indian Health program.
• The activities must be approved and paid for by your sponsoring IHS, Tribal, or Urban Indian Health program.
• The IHS Division of Clinical and Community Service (DCCS) will work with your IHS Area Office to reimburse your sponsoring program for the expenses after successful completion.
• Do not pay for the registration personally. The IHS DCCS cannot reimburse you directly for any costs and can only reimburse your IHS, Tribal, or Urban Indian Health program.

A: Contact IHS DCCS management analyst via email at Jamie Olsen via email. Ms. Olsen will connect you with a DNS or DCCS staff member to answer additional questions or support completing the application.