PROFESSIONAL PORTFOLIO 1

Professional Portfolio Assignment - Part C

Brooklynn Wiggers

PRNU 115

Vancouver Island University

February 28 2023

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Professional Organization Selected: NICE - National Initiative for Care of the Elderly

The professional organization that I have chosen to focus on is NICE - National Initiative

for Care of the Elderly. NICE is a network of nurses, students, researchers, and practitioners

around the world that are dedicated to the care of older adults and have a joint mission to

improve the care.

This organization really looked into the research behind why elderly care was lacking and

they found that research provided that there was a large gap between what care of older adults

should look like ideally and how the care actually is in real time. This lead straight into their

three main goals they have for the organization: One “To Close the gap between evidence-based

research and actual practice”, Two “Improve training of existing practitioners, nurses, and

interest new students in specializing in geriatric care”, and three “Effect positive policy changes

for the care of older adults” (https://www.nicenet.ca).

They had a really nice quote on their website saying “In an ageless society, we will

recognize and nurture everyone’s value and contribution, at every life stage” (https://

www.nicenet.ca), this pointed out to me the need to treat everyone equally at a high standard of

care no matter their age, ethnicity, culture, etc. Everyone has grandparents whether alive or

deceased and I think it is important to think of the care you would like them to receive, and in

return we should provide care to others at that standard.

There is a huge need for gerontological and geriatric nurses because there is a large

population of older adults and from research and watching trends, these older adults are living

for a longer period of time.

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I have subscribed to their free email newsletter so that I can stay up to date on the

organization. You can join the free email newsletter by using the link: https://www.nicenet.ca/

join. (I have screenshot proof of newsletter sign up).

My Reasoning for Selecting This Organization

I selected this organization because their goals for improving elder care really spoke to

me and I love that this organization is so dedicated to bettering health care for the vulnerable

older adults in our community.

Another reason I selected this organization was because I really like the online resources

they provided.They have tools available online to support caregiver roles as well as older adults,

they have self-care tools for caregivers as well as consultation tests caregivers can refer older

adults to use.

NICE - National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly organization is important to the

discipline and practice of licensed practical nurses. NICE not only supports the nursing

profession into improving elderly care but also supports these older adults and their families how

and includes their input on how to better health care for themselves and their loved ones.

Allowing older adults to have input in their health care is an easy way to maintain their

autonomy and dignity.

What I Have Learned About This Organization

One thing I learned about the organization NICE is that they have online toolsets. One of

these tools is the “Caregiver Self-Care Tool” (https://www.nicenet.ca/tools/caregiver-self-care-

tool), Within this tool NICE recognizes that many care givers have high stress and can burn out

easily from caring for a family member that has a chronic disease or that are just aging. It is

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essential for care givers to maintain their own health in order to take care of their loved ones or

others. NICE set out some practices caregivers should follow in order to maintain and improve

their own health including: Working on their physical health by walking and knowing the

importance of a good diet.

Another online tool they provide is the “ROPE: Relating to Older People” Evaluation

(https://www.nicenet.ca/tools/rope-relating-to-older-people-evaluation), which measuring the

level of ageism you have. NICE defines ‘Ageism’ as “the stereotyping of older adults based on

chronological age. It is a form of prejudice and discrimination similar to racism and sexism,

which allows younger generations to view older adults as separate from mainstream society”. It

is a twenty question evaluation that will determine what level of ageism you stand at. I think

these evaluation tools are super useful because one may think “Oh, i’m not racist, or ageist, etc”

but you never know until you evaluate the way you think, this same person after taking the

evaluation may actually be thinking in a ageist way. You can not improve on yourself and your

thinking habits until you detect a deficit.

In addition, another thing I learned about the organization NICE is ICCE which is the

International Collaboration of the Elderly founded in 2005. It is the international aspect of the

organization that helps NICE members collaborate with experts who research aging across the

world. ICCE is funded globally through the “International Partnership Initiative of the Networks

of Centres of Excellence and the International Development Research Centre”. There are many

other organizations and universities as well as the federal government who are all partners of

ICCE.

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References

Caregiver self-care tool. Nice Toolsets. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2023.

https://www.nicenet.ca/tools/caregiver-self-care-tool

National initiative for the care of the elderly - Canada. NICE. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2023.

https://www.nicenet.ca/

Rope: Relating to older people evaluation. Nice Toolsets. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2023.

https://www.nicenet.ca/tools/rope-relating-to-older-people-evaluation