Professional Scope and Standards Guidelines for
Addressing Issues Related to Care of Older Adults

In 2003, the American Nurses Association (ANA) Congress on Nursing Practice endorsed that professional nursing associations seeking to develop new Scopes and Standards or to revise existing Scopes and Standards through the ANA Congress of Nursing Practice specifically address issues related to care of older adults.
 
These Guidelines were first developed in 2005 to assist professional nursing associations to address issues of care of older adults. These Guidelines were approved by the American Nurses Association (ANA), American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing, and endorsed by professional nursing associations. These guidelines were reviewed and updated when ANA revised the Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice in 2010.
 
The Hartford Institute, through its ongoing specialty nursing initiative, REASN continues to work with specialty nursing associations to incorporate language about care of older adults into association Scope and Standards documents and recommends use of these guidelines in the revision process.

Last updated - October 2010