The need for specialist nurses to work with older people.

This article is based on a comprehensive literature review undertaken by the Royal College of Nursing gerontological nursing programme on the development of specialist gerontological nursing practice (Schofield et al, 1998). The scope of the original review covered the development of specialist nursing, frameworks for practice, accreditation and regulation, role components and competencies, methods of evaluating the specialist role and fields of practice. The literature review's purpose was to inform work on the development of a specialist gerontological nursing BSc (Hons) degree by distance learning. This article focuses on the key findings of the literature review, setting out the potential for the introduction of specialist gerontological nurses in the UK.