Abstract
ABSTRACT: This article describes the Elder Veteran Program (EVP), a nurse practitioner (NP)-led inpatient consult service at one Midwestern Veterans Administration (VA) hospital. The EVP was designed to address the needs of older hospitalized veterans and serves as a model that uses geriatric expert clinicians as mentors to grow geriatric expertise. Unique to EVP, nurses are coached to identify high-risk older veterans, initiate the consult process to drive geriatric medical and nursing review, and implement best geriatric nursing practice. As a result of EVP implementation, there was a 13-fold increase in the number of older hospitalized veterans receiving geriatric evaluation. The EVP highlights how NPs lead implementation of an evidence-based program that creates a path for engaging, educating, and growing geriatric nursing knowledge and skill while improving veteran access to geriatric sensitive care.