Indian Health Geriatric Nurse Fellowship Program Funding Period

A: Download, fill out, and send the completed GNF application form [DOCx - 42 KB] to uw-triad@uw.edu

In the brief application form, applicants will note these requirements:

• Endorsement from your leadership to participate, to include your clinical supervisor and the CEO or Health Administrator of your IHS, tribal, or urban Indian health program. As well as a commitment by those individuals to support the program training, applied learning activity/project, attendance at virtual and in-person meetings, and protected time away from regular duties for program participation.
• Your commitment to program requirements.
• Core and Specialty training selection or identification of alternative proposed curriculum(s).
• Brief description of tentative geriatric-focused topic and idea for a nurse-led applied learning activity.
• A commitment to participate in virtual Fellowship meetings and present a final poster.

A: After you are notified that your application has been provisionally accepted, you must enroll directly in one of the approved training courses by December 19, 2025. Follow the usual process for training requests at your IHS, tribal, or urban Indian health facility.

• The training must be approved and paid for by your sponsoring IHS, tribal, or urban Indian health facility.
• The IHS Division of Clinical and Community Service (DCCS) will work with your IHS Area Office to reimburse your sponsoring facility for the registration after successful completion.
• Do not pay for the registration personally. The IHS DCCS cannot reimburse you directly for registration costs and can only reimburse your IHS, tribal, or urban Indian health facility.
• If you need help navigating the payment process, please contact uw-triad@uw.edu.

Final acceptance as an IHS Geriatric Nurse Fellows is contingent on documentation of enrollment in the training courses.

A: You have the option of identifying and requesting other geriatric training that may better meet your needs. The TRIAD team can help you identify those opportunities. However, you must be able to demonstrate participation in previous training or coursework that covered all elements listed in the Core curriculum. Contactuw-triad@uw.edu to discuss this further.

Please note, the $1,000 budget limit applies, and the training programs must be submitted and approved with the application. Examples include custom building your own specialty curriculum from individual courses available from:

• Harvard Institute for Geriatric Nursing (HIGN), available by reviewing their online catalog for courses or case studies. For more, visit HIGN. Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association (GAPNA). See more on the GAPNA website. Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 
• American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA). See more at APNA. Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 

A: Do not overcommit. Given your current workload and commitments, make sure the activity or project you propose is specific, measurable, and achievable within the 3 to 4 month timeframe. The planning should also take into consideration the support you anticipate you will receive from your local facility and leadership.

• Talk with your supervisor, manager, nursing, or clinical leadership to brainstorm activities or projects of interest. Consider activities that have the potential to benefit your system or clinic or address an unmet need for patients and/or staff. Examples might include:
• Public health nurse who learns and incorporates cognitive (e.g., Mini-Cog© or AD8) or falls risk screening into their routine practice for all older at-risk adults. Community health presentation at a senior center or tribal meal site on the topic of your choice.
• Unit in-service training or in-service series on the topic of your choice, with brief knowledge checks to track participant learning.
• Develop or adapt a medication safety brochure for distribution to older adults and their caregivers or family by clinical staff in your unit.
• Conduct assessment of baseline level of knowledge of staff, patients, or community on the topic of your choice and analyze findings – to create data that informs other future activities using existing tools.
• Table at an existing local health fair to develop and offer a geriatric-focused assessment and brief patient brochure with follow-up information specific to the topic of your choice. Select an evidence-based intervention on risk reduction (or topic of your choice), go through the training, and create a plan to implement after the Fellowship presentation.
• Create and test a medication reconciliation process for older adults in collaboration with your pharmacy team.
• Develop and implement chart reviews or audits to gather baseline data about your population on the topic of your choice.

Review and update a relevant policy or protocol based on current research and evidence. The TRIAD program advisor (uw-triad@uw.edu) can help you identify and refine a project, and your mentor will help guide further development once in the program.

A: Indian Health Services is hosting the IHS Clinical and Community Workforce Summit 2026 and current IHS Geri Nurse Fellows are invited to attend. For more information, please visit the Summit webpage.Exit Disclaimer: You Are Leaving www.ihs.gov 

If you think you will be able to attend, fill out page 6 of the application as follows:

• If you have pre-authorization from your leadership and know you can and will attend, mark "Yes”.
• If you are unsure about dates or work commitments, but your leadership and you think you could attend, write "Maybe" and provide brief comments describing any possible issues that would impact attendance.
• Once the final in-person meeting dates are confirmed, applicants will be notified by email and have 30 days to withdraw or accept the travel reimbursement option and in-person meeting participation.

A: To ensure reimbursement: