Comprehensive Guide to Elderly nursing care Elderly nursing care Patients and Elderly nursing care Patients with Dementia
Question
Task: What are the key considerations and challenges in elderly nursing care elderly nursing care Patients and those with dementia?
Answer
Introduction
Nursing is classified as being among the most sacrificial careers an individual can joint thus making nurses among the most respected people in a community. Nursing care is broken down into several fields ranging from patient care and medication administration to palliative care. All forms of nursing are highly demanding and require individuals to have a strong will and patience (Doran, 2010).
This is due to nurses needing to care and treat elderly nursing care Patients who have experienced all types’ of injuries and in some situations need to care for elderly nursing care over long-term periods. This paper focuses on nurses who opt to care for and rehabilitate elderly nursing care and will explore the different medical conditions the nurses need to manage. It will also highlight the challenges nurses encounter while caring for the elderly members of society and how these challenges can be managed.
Rehabilitation of the Older Person
This is fine until certain ages after which the external intervention and care is required. Without a family to care for them the elderly nursing care have no option but to opt for nursing care and old people homes where the elderly can interact with other old people and also receive the care requires to remain healthy and happy (Squires & Hastings, 2002).
While some elderly nursing care will remain strong until their last days, others may encounter complication which would need specialized nursing care. Not all nurses are capable of handling elderly nursing care thus there are certain traits a nurse must have so as to fall into the criteria of nurses offering Rehabilitation of Older People.
Patience
One of the most important skills a nurse must possess so as to care for elderly nursing care is being patient. Nursing caring for elderly nursing care will need to understand patient needs and be prepared as many elderly nursing care tend to suffer from memory loss and the inability to care for themselves. It is essential for the nurse to maintain a high level of elderly nursing care Patients while dealing with elderly nursing care as it is inevitable that the nurse will work on elderly nursing care Patients who suffer from memory loss and unable to control their bladder and bowel movements resulting in accidents thus the nurse must be prepared to continue caring for the patient even in such situations.
Daily Routine Planning
Planning also plays a critical role in a nurse’s career since the nurse will need to develop a routine of their daily work. This involves planning their own daily responsibilities as well as managing the patient’s routine so as to keep elderly nursing care Patients active. This is especially important while dealing with old aged elderly nursing care Patients since the patient’s routine needs to be planned accordingly (Ricci & Kyle, 2009).
This requires for the nurses to develop a daily diet plan, daily exercise, socialization, outings and health check-ups among more. It is the nurse’s responsibility to manage the elderly nursing care’s daily routine and management thus requiring for a daily routine plan to be developed which clearly outlines each day’s responsibilities.
Building Patient nurse bolds without attachment
Old age care is a challenging profession since nurses will find themselves working with the same elderly nursing care Patients over long-term periods which results in relationships being built between the nurses and elderly nursing care Patients. While it’s not possible to avoid developing a relationship altogether, it’s the nurse's responsibility to avoid developing a personal bond with the elderly nursing care Patients.
This is because building relationships will begin affecting the individual’s performance and affect the way they act on to react to the patient while under care. It’s also important to keep in mind many of the elderly nursing care Patients may be suffering from life-threatening diseases of nearing the end of their life thus it's critical to avoid building very close bonds which can affect the nurse's ability to take the right decision
Administration of Medical care and Treatment
It’s also the nurse’s responsibility to ensure they are administering proper medical care and treatment to the elderly nursing care. Many elderly nursing care Patients will suffer from different medical conditions which may require daily medication to be consumed so as to control the medical condition.
The nurse must make sure the patient is taking their medication and receiving treatment or therapy on a daily basis so as to maintain their health (Wolper, 2010). Nurses must also be able to be prepared to handle different medical emergency situations which are likely to occur while caring for old aged people. This is critical as it ensures the nurse has the experience and knowledge to act responsibly during medical emergencies.
Dementia Care
As age progresses people will gradually find themselves losing their memory which makes it difficult for them to interact with family and care for themselves. This makes it important for elderly nursing care Patients suffering from Dementia to be placed under nursing care which would allow them to receive the suitable care from qualified medical and nursing staff.
Due to Dementia being a medical condition where elderly nursing care Patients lose their memory, it's especially challenging for the nurses who care for the dementia elderly nursing care Patients (Adams & Manthorpe, 2003). This makes it a caring for elderly nursing care Patients with dementia a profession which requires for nurses to have special skills as discussed below:
Patience
Again elderly nursing care Patients play a major role while caring for elderly nursing care Patients with Dementia simply due to the elderly nursing care Patients suffering from short-term memory loss. This results in many Dementia elderly nursing care Patients forgetting tasks and people they met recently thus making is challenging for the caregiver who must continue reintroducing or reminding the patient regarding certain aspects on a daily basis. The caregiver/ nurse must, therefore, be prepared to constantly remind the patient regarding different roles, duties, and responsibilities on a daily basis without becoming frustrated or agree.
Maintain a Positive Mood for Interaction
Dementia is a medical condition whereby the patient progressively loses their memory over time but tend to retain some memories. This makes it essential for the nurse to maintaining a positive mood while interacting with the patient at all times. This is critical as the patient is likely to retain a bad memory which would affect the relationship between the caregiver and patient resulting in conflict.
The nurse must, therefore, remain strict but at the same time maintain a positive mood while interacting with the Dementia patient at all times (Sue Barker, 2012). Even when situations arise when discipline needs to be enforced, the nurse must make sure the trust has been regained and the relationship remains strong before the patient and nurse depart. Despite the concern, the nurse must always remain positive towards the relationship as this is essential towards maintaining a positive long-term relationship and interactions.
Clear Communication
Elderly nursing care Patients suffering from Dementia also have communication issues, making it difficult to communicate with people at times. It’s important that the nurse develop an effective communication strategy which addressed the patient’s needs. While hearing may not be a problem, the patient may not be able to interoperate communication effectively due to memory loss. This makes it important for the nurse to use both visual and verbal communication techniques while dealing with the Dementia elderly nursing care Patients. The method of communication adopted will in most situations depend on the severity of memory loss.
Visual communication
Some cases of Dementia result in the patient forgetting their own name or other people’s names. This makes it important for the nurse to utilize visual indicator’s to assist the patient to regain their understanding. This may require for reintroduction or contact of elderly nursing care Patients and other important people on a daily basis to remain the patient regarding people they may be interacting with on a daily basis. In cases where the patient doesn’t remember their name, the nurse would need to interview and assist the patient when their name is called thus allowing them to actively participate.
Verbal communication
Communicating verbally with a patient suffering from Dementia must also be properly managed to prevent misunderstanding and communication gaps. Dementia elderly nursing care Patients will in many situations not be able to communicate effectively and may lack powerful sentence structure recognition. This makes it important for the nurses to adopt simplified verbal communication which is can easily be understood. Simplifying the language makes the communication easier for the patient to understand which is critical towards encouraging patient-nurse relationships.
Learn the Elderly nursing care Patients facial expressions
As a nurse, it’s essential for them to master each of your patient’s facial expressions while communicating. Do not wait for the patient to always respond to a question correctly and learn to manage them through their facial expressions. The nurse must be able to read the elderly nursing care Patients emotions and reactions to a topic of question via their facial reactions and intervene rather than waiting for the patient to raise the concern. This allows the nurse to build a stronger relationship with the patient over the long-term perspective.
Palliative Care
Palliative care refers to specialized medical care given to people suffering from serious medical conditions. In most situations, the elderly nursing care Patients are suffering from terminal illnesses which do not have any treatment thus limiting the nurse to providing management and care for the patient (Watson et al., 2009).
Many forms of cancer, Dubieties, Dementia, and HIV are among some medical conditions in which medical professionals and nurses can only assist the patient to manage their medical condition as there is a cure available. Nurses providing palliative care to elderly nursing care Patients must, therefore, be able to provide adequate support, counselling, and guidance to elderly nursing care Patients whom would help the elderly nursing care Patients extend their life as long as possible and also reduce the effects the medical condition has on the patient.
Support – education
Palliative Care nurses must be prepared to offer adequate support and education to elderly nursing care Patients regarding a medical condition. In many situations after a patient has been diagnosed with an incurable medical condition, they lack the required information and knowledge linked to the condition.
It is the responsibility of the nurse to begin by offering support regarding the medical condition and how it can be managed. It’s critical to keep in mind the patient is in distress at the point of time thus negative information should avoid being shared. Instead, the nurse can redirect the patient to the counselling department who will help the patient better understand the situation and how the care would be managed.
Counselling
Counselling elderly nursing care Patients with terminal dresses require the nurses to develop adequate knowledge regarding the medical condition so as to provide guidance and support to the patient. It requires for the patient to bring to a calm state of mind as stress causes further problems for the patient and could affect the patient negatively. The counsellor should be able to provide support to the patient by assisting them to understand the medical condition and how the medical facility intends on managing it.
It is essential to demonstrate good knowledge of the medical condition and offer the patient guidance on how the medical condition would require being managed during the initial stages. This is due to the patient needing to undergo many medical tests and treatments before the medical condition is brought under control. This is also a time when the patient will experience lots of stress and tension and they need to be offered support during the early stages after diagnosis
Treatment and management guidance
Palliative Care will in most situations involve the patient needing to take medication on a daily basis for the rest of their lives which is also a major transition which requires proper management. The nurses must be able to offer guidance and tips on how to manage different side effects the patient may experience after starting their medication.
Peri-operative Care
Peri-operative Care refers to the management and care of a patient that needs to undergo surgery. This form of nursing involved preparing and caring for elderly nursing care Patients before, during and after the surgery and will involve most forms of surgery. Nurses will specialize in certain stages of surgery resulting in different nurses caring for the patient at different stages of admission to the medical facility (Woodhead & Fudge, 2012).
All nurses must be brief together regarding the patient so as to ensure each understands the patient medical condition clearly and surgery objectives. In cases where patient diet management may be required before the surgery pro surgery nurses would be responsible for managing patient’s diet and medication before the patient can be considered for surgery.
This is common among elderly nursing care Patients suffering from diabetes whereby the elderly nursing care Patients’ blood sugar levels need to be stabilized before, during and after surgery so as to ensure a full recovery. This requires proper coordination among Peri-operative Care nurses who will need to coordinate on patient vital so as to determine the safest surgical plan keeping in mind the patient may not have a stable vital favourable for surgery.
Psychosocial Interventions in Mental Healthcare
Elderly nursing care Patients diagnosed with most major medical conditions will undergo serious physiological distress making it important to have nurses who can offer Psychosocial Interventions. This comes in the form of counselling will be required at any point. It is critical for the nurse to offer support and Psychosocial Interventions to the elderly nursing care Patients who may experience emotional breakdowns due to the stress experienced after diagnoses and before securing treatment where uncertainty overwhelms the patient (Walker, 2014).
In this situation, the nurses must be able to offer moral support and help the patient maintain a stable state of mind to prevent patient taking serious decisions which may be life-threatening. Suicide and revenge are common psychological effects linked to terminal disease diagnoses thus the nurse's must ensure they offer effective Psychosocial Interventions that help promote a patient's healthy state of mind.
Conclusion
Nursing is usually associated with administering medication and caring for a patient admitted to the ward but nursing is a much wide profession. Nursing encompasses caring to a wide verity of people including the old, elderly nursing care Patients with terminal medical conditions and elderly nursing care Patients preparing for major surgical procedures.
This makes it important for a nurse to adapt and develop multiple skills so as to improve the career in the profession. Nurses are major contributors towards improving social welfare and people health and a profession which requires strong-willed people thus it’s essential for nurses to develop certain skills so as to ensure they maximize their success in the profession.
References:
Adams, T. & Manthorpe, J., 2003. Dementia Care: An Evidence Based Textbook. New York: CRC Press.
Doran, D., 2010. Nursing Outcomes. Onterio: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Ricci, S.S. & Kyle, T., 2009. Maternity and Pediatric Nursing. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Squires, A.J. & Hastings, M.B., 2002. Rehabilitation of the Older Person: A Handbook for the Interdisciplinary Team. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes.
Sue Barker, M.B., 2012. Dementia Care in Nursing. Singerpore: SAGE.
Walker, S., 2014. Psychosocial Interventions in Mental Health Nursing. Learning Matters.
Watson, M., Lucas, C., Hoy, A. & Wells, J., 2009. Oxford Handbook of Palliative Care. Oxford: OUP Oxford.
Wolper, L., 2010. Health Care Administration: Managing Organized Delivery Systems. 5th ed. London: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Woodhead, K. & Fudge, L., 2012. Manual of Perioperative Care: An Essential Guide. John Wiley & Sons.
