Required clinical course in gerontology: the key to providing competent nurse caregivers for the elderly.

Article: Master's programs in gerontological nursing have always been a tough sell. The first one, developed by Virginia Stone, a grandma of gerontological nursing, became operational at Duke University in 1967, the same year that the first generic gerontological programs opened at North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas) and the University of South Florida. Twenty-five years later the latter two continue to be successful academic programs with graduates scattered around the world. The program at Duke, however, was closed in the early '70s, despite avail-able funding, when the university ad-ministration decided to discontinue the entire master's program in nursing (Virginia Stone, personal communication, April 15, 1993).