The NICHE Geriatric Resource Nurse Model: Improving the Care of Older Adults with Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias

There are an estimated 5.3 million Americans with Alzheimer's disease, and as the population ages, that number is expected to reach 7.7 million by the year 2030.1 Older adults with Alzheimer's and other dementias are 3.1 times more likely to have a hospital stay than those without the condition.1 The Nurses Improving Care to Healthsystem Elders (NICHE) geriatric resource nurse (GRN) model is a proven framework to prepare acute care hospital registered nurses to care for this special population of older adults. This article addresses the NICHE/GRN model and its implementation at Palomar Pomerado Health.