Individuals are living longer than ever and staying active later in their lives. This increase in life expectancy is contributing to a rise in dementia-related illnesses across the country. Unfortunately, there is a severe shortage of nurses and nurse practitioners who are specialized in diagnosing and treating geriatric neuropsychiatric illnesses such as dementia.
To bridge this gap, Saint Mary’s College has partnered with GuideStar Eldercare to create two impactful offerings within our Doctor of Nursing Practice program: a geriatric neuropsychiatry certificate and a DNP concentration in geriatric neuropsychiatry. These initiatives equip graduates with specialized skills to provide older adult patients with the care and attention they need to lead healthy, independent lives.
GuideStar and Saint Mary’s Doctor of Nursing Practice Partnership
GuideStar and Saint Mary’s College believe that the traditional model of providing care to individuals diagnosed with dementia only addresses part of the underlying problem. Too often, providers find the symptom and treat only that symptom. The GuideStar program at Saint Mary’s trains nurse practitioners to properly diagnose and identify age-related illnesses, and treat their patients using a combination of neurology, neuropsychiatry and gerontology.
GuideStar Eldercare uses neurology-based behavioral health interventions to develop effective person-centered approaches to treat a wide range of psychological and psychiatric brain disorders. When you join our Doctor of Nursing Practice program with a specialization in geriatric neuropsychiatry, you’ll learn to approach neurological illnesses through a multidisciplinary lens that looks at the patient as an individual with unique medical needs. This specialized training will help you improve not only patients’ lives but the healthcare system as a whole.
Saint Mary’s Doctor of Nursing Practice Program
Our Doctor of Nursing Practice program in geriatric neuropsychiatry emphasizes clinical training while also being accessible to nursing degree students wherever they live and work. Our DNP degree is offered fully online, with three on-campus immersive experiences each year that let you work and learn in our state-of-the-art Center for Integrated Healthcare Education labs.
Students in our Doctor of Nursing Practice program complete at least 780 clinical hours of direct patient care. That’s in addition to 400 DNP Practice Innovation Project practicum hours. By adding a geriatric neuropsychiatry concentration to your DNP degree, you’ll also immerse yourself in the interdisciplinary worlds of neuropsychiatry, eldercare neuropsychiatry and psychiatry.
A Doctor of Nursing Practice to Address Unmet Needs
GuideStar Eldercare is at the vanguard of providing cutting-edge, research-backed geriatric care around the country. Nursing students who add a geriatric neuropsychiatry specialty to their DNP, or working nurse practitioners who pursue the Geriatric Neuropsychiatry certificate, benefit from the vast built-in network of facilities that work with GuideStar Eldercare — including Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Texas.
Combined with the high demand for nurse practitioners who are specially trained in this innovative field, this means that your Doctor of Nursing degree can lead to many career opportunities around the U.S.
Learn more about what you can do with a Doctor of Practice in Nursing.
