Janet Jesiolowski BSN, RN-BC CSRN CFN SCRN CMSRN

By Erin Flynn Jay

Janet Jesiolowski decided to become a Gerontological RN after she read a nursing journal article relating to nursing care of the elderly population. The article mentioned that the senior patient population was one of the fastest-growing health populations in the United States and that there was an emergent need for nurses to be prepared to provide them with the best healthcare outcomes. The article also referenced that with over 2.2 million registered nurses in the United States, only 1 percent of all nurses were certified in gerontological nursing. This daunting statistic piqued her interest to learn more about certification.

Jesiolowski became certified in gerontological nursing in 2015. “I wanted to be fully prepared to understand the unique healthcare needs of the growing elderly population by gaining knowledge of the aging process and its impact in my clinical practice,” she said.

There are a great number of resources for nurses seeking gerontological nursing certification. Many hospitals are recognizing the trends in elderly healthcare and therefore are achieving NICHE (Nurses Improving Care for Health System Elders) facility certification. Jesiolowski became interested in gerontological certification as the hospital she worked in became NICHE certified. She was then able to access many course offerings through NICHE and became certified as a Geriatric Resource Nurse through NICHE prior to taking her board certification exam through the ANCC (American Nurses Credentialing Center).

Completing the courses to achieve Geriatric Resource Nurse NICHE certification prepared Jesiolowski well to sit for her board certification exam. However, Jesiolowski emphasized that one needs to take self-responsibility in preparing. She said no one is going to just hand you the information to take the exam.

Due to recertify in 2020, Jesiolowski plans the recertification process through the achievement of continuing nurse educational units (CEU) credits. As soon as she became certified, she started researching and attending online or in-person CEUs to maintain her certification.

Jesiolowski presently works as an emergency room staff nurse, where she utilizes her gerontological certification knowledge daily. The majority of the patient population she encounters there are elderly. Some common issues she sees include:

• receipt of potentially inappropriate medications to be avoided in older adults as outlined in the American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria


• altered mental status changes related to urinary tract infections


• adverse effects of opioid use for chronic pain


• determination that older patients can no longer care for themselves in their current living situation

In addition, her gerontological certification allows her to carefully assess and monitor her elderly population in the emergency room because of her keen understanding of the physiological process of aging and the ability to detect even the most minute subtle clinical changes.

Her favorite part of being a gerontological RN is that she deeply understands the aging process and the unique needs of this patient population. In addition, certification offers validation to her patients that she has taken the time to gain knowledge and apply that knowledge to providing them with the best clinical care. “Patients often inquire about my gerontological certification pin and it gives me the ability to explain my certification to them. Furthermore, it also provides me the opportunity to be a role model to my peers about the importance of achieving nursing certification and its benefits to patient care,” she said.

Jesiolowski helps her patients the most by keeping current through reading nursing journals, attending nursing conferences, and maintaining membership in nursing organizations. Her patients can achieve positive healthcare outcomes because she is using evidence-based clinical nursing practices and critical thinking.

Because being a gerontological RN is so physically and emotionally demanding, she wishes there had been a greater emphasis on self-care. “Too often nurses are too tired after a shift to prepare a meal and instead use the fast-food drive-through window. It also takes time after a shift has ended to unwind and nurses can find themselves up much later in the evening when they should be in bed asleep as they have another shift scheduled the next day,” said Jesiolowski. “For that reason, I would advise new nurses to prepare healthy meals ahead of time that they can reheat once home and find an activity once you get off shift to relax—taking a walk, listening to music, meeting with friends—and not focusing on how chaotic your day was at work.”

Jesiolowski is currently preparing for her Emergency Nurse certification. She has also achieved board certification as a Stroke Certified Registered Nurse and a Certified Medical-Surgical Registered Nurse. She said the essential skills for success as a Gerontological RN are a solid foundation of the physiological changes of the aging process, astute critical thinking skills and keeping current with nursing evidence-based research.

If she had one piece of advice for someone thinking about becoming a Gerontological RN, Jesiolowski would say “go for it”: You would be improving your clinical knowledge base and critical thinking skills and providing the very best clinical care to an elder population that so greatly needs it.

 

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