Although older Canadians constitute a large portion of patients in hospital, many receive less-than-optimal drug care. Most registered nurses (RNs) and other health care professionals who provide older adults (OAs) with drug therapy lack pre-professional education about that practice. Concurrently, there is little research available about how RNs learn about drug therapy for OAs. Using a qualitative method, this thesis explores hospital RNs’ insights about their knowledge about drug therapy for OAs, their associated learning needs and strategies, and contextual influences on their learning. The findings illuminated RNs’ extensive knowledge, their learning needs and varied learning strategies, and constraints and facilitators of their learning. Drug therapy for OAs is a complex activity. RNs play a pivotal role in that care and have ample knowledge. RNs’ learning is holistic, ongoing, mostly informal, and reflective of many adult-learning theories. By learning, RNs build and transform their repertoires of knowledge to stay current with the quickly changing landscapes of health care, gerontological know-how, and drugs and drug practices. As a result, sometimes RNs protect not only OAs but also other hospital stakeholders from the negative effects of uninformed practice. Nurse educators should teach students about drug therapy for OAs and broaden their own views about RNs’ knowledge and learning strategies for that care. Nurse leaders should maximize chances for RNs to learn and prepare them to influence other stakeholders in ways that support learning. Hospital administrators and other stakeholders should recognize RNs’ pivotal role in drug care and support their learning through organizational changes. Communities should design strategies that ease RNs’ learning. Policymakers should replace corporatism with innovations that champion learning. Researchers and RNs should collaborate on novel projects that bolster RNs’ learning.

Although older Canadians constitute a large portion of patients in hospital, many receive less-than-optimal drug care. Most registered nurses (RNs) and other health care professionals who provide older adults (OAs) with drug therapy lack pre-professional education about that practice. Concurrently, there is little research available about how RNs learn about drug therapy for OAs. Using a qualitative method, this thesis explores hospital RNs’ insights about their knowledge about drug therapy for OAs, their associated learning needs and strategies, and contextual influences on their learning. The findings illuminated RNs’ extensive knowledge, their learning needs and varied learning strategies, and constraints and facilitators of their learning. Drug therapy for OAs is a complex activity. RNs play a pivotal role in that care and have ample knowledge. RNs’ learning is holistic, ongoing, mostly informal, and reflective of many adult-learning theories. By learning, RNs build and transform their repertoires of knowledge to stay current with the quickly changing landscapes of health care, gerontological know-how, and drugs and drug practices. As a result, sometimes RNs protect not only OAs but also other hospital stakeholders from the negative effects of uninformed practice. Nurse educators should teach students about drug therapy for OAs and broaden their own views about RNs’ knowledge and learning strategies for that care. Nurse leaders should maximize chances for RNs to learn and prepare them to influence other stakeholders in ways that support learning. Hospital administrators and other stakeholders should recognize RNs’ pivotal role in drug care and support their learning through organizational changes. Communities should design strategies that ease RNs’ learning. Policymakers should replace corporatism with innovations that champion learning. Researchers and RNs should collaborate on novel projects that bolster RNs’ learning.