NICHE Recommitment Policy Statement :2008-2010

(download printable PDF version here)

NICHE (Nurses Improving Care to Health Systems Elders) seeks to assure quality care for older adults in hospitals, home care and institutional long-term care settings. NICHE is a program of the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing at New York University College of Nursing.Health care organizations that participate in NICHE demonstrate a commitment to providing quality health care to older adults. The following characteristics are integral to NICHE:

• A designated individual or group to lead NICHE initiatives
• Resources to sustain NICHE initiatives, including support for staff attendance at the NICHE conference(s)
• A designated program of clinical and/or educational activities on behalf of care of older adults
• Orientation of patients, families, staff, physicians, and board members about NICHE

• Ongoing evaluation of NICHE-related outcomes

In establishing a designated program of activities on behalf of care of older adults, NICHE sites are actively engaged in providing one or more of the following program components:

• Geriatric Institutional Assessment Profile (GIAP) survey

• Ongoing staff education specific to geriatrics

• Geriatric Resource Nurse (GRN) Model

• Acute Care of the Elderly (ACE) Unit

• Syndrome Specific Model of Care

• Geriatric Nursing Protocols for Best Practice

• Geriatric certification for professional nurses

• Geriatric nursing practice competencies

• Other programs designed to meet the needs of older adults

• Comprehensive Discharge Planning /Quality Cost Model of Transitional Care

• The Hospital Elder Life Program

Benefits of registration include:

• National recognition as a NICHE site, committed to providing quality care to older adults, including posting of your hospital on the NICHE web site

• Access to a national network of NICHE providers through a list-serv.

• Access to members-only resources