Are Changing Demographics Influencing the Trend of Nursing Curricula in Massachusetts BSN Programs?
Page 5 RESULTS The sample population included six accredited baccalaureate nursing programs within Massachusetts, representing a 37.5% response rate. In Massachusetts 33.2% of programs are offering a stand-alone course which is slightly higher than the national average, but still significantly low, suggesting that Massachusetts nursing students may be more qualified to care for the elderly than their peers, but are not being adequately qualified according to the AACN. 16.6% of programs require a gerontology course and 83.4% of programs integrate gerontology into other courses. The integration of gerontological material into other courses requires additional research to determine the amount of gerontology material actually covered. The primary barriers to offering a stand-alone course in Massachusetts were identified from the collected data as curriculum overload, lack of qualified faculty and lack of quality clinical sites. These are partly consistent with the national findings from Ro
