There are changes in the demographic as the population grows older, the number of older adult’s increases and thus, there is an increase of proportion of patients that are older adults for nurses to take care of (Wells, Y., Foreman, P., Gething, L., & Petralia, W., 2004). The nurses are there to assist and support the older adults in achieving wellness within their situation through empowering the clients (Touhy, et al (2012). Caring for older adults is important as there is an increase in population with deteriorating health. When caring for a client it is important to incorporate Jean Watson’s caring theories and Carative Factors to help influence and support the care. She encourages nurses to co-participate within the caring process by establishing unity and trust between the nurse and client. First, this paper will explain a situation in where I cared for an older adult and it will then introduce Jean Watson’s lower order needs, specifically the need for activity and how it relates to the older adult I cared for. Lastly, this paper will explain the nursing interventions I implemented to meet the lower order need, with a discussion of Carative Factor #4 relating to the client.
Patient Description
During my second week at clinical, I cared for a 74 year old female. Mrs. X came to Lake Ridge Health Whitby Hospital due to a right CVA and she was suffering from locked in syndrome. In addition to this Mrs. X’s medical history included, constipation, depression, anxiety, anemia, hypothyroidism, hyperlipidemia, a coccyx wound and dysphasia. Due to the clients diagnosis of locked in syndrome, she was unable to move or communicate verbally because of paralysis of most muscles (Palmieri, 2009). Mrs. X was aware and awake, but was only...
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...ursing 39(7), 22. doi: 10.1097/01.NURSE.0000357264.89334.a0
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Due to an ageing population , The Francis Report recommends the introduction of a new status of nurse, the “registered older persons nurse”. One of the illnesses linked in with this is dementia, and multiple factors relating to dementia are having an impact on how nurses are trained and their deliverance of services. In 2013, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) began a new development program to transform dementia care for hospitals. There aim is to develop skills and knowledge related to dementia, the roles of all those who are involved, understanding the development of action plans that identify key changes.
When a member of someone’s family goes ill or is no longer able to live on their own and take care of themselves; it is up to the family members to decide the best course of action for them to get the best care that they can. There several different options that need to be considered when looking at long-term care facilities for older adults. In this paper, I will briefly discuss two of the most common options that people choose between when looking at long-term care options. One option is home care and the other is assisted and/or independent living facilities. These two options are some of the best ways to take care of ill elders.
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The reduction of pressure ulcer prevalence rates is a national healthcare goal (Lahmann, Halfens, & Dassen, 2010). Pressure ulcer development causes increased costs to the medical facility and delayed healing in the affected patients (Thomas, 2001). Standards and guidelines developed for pressure ulcer prevention are not always followed by nursing staff. For example, nurses are expected to complete a full assessment on new patients within 24 hours at most acute-care hospitals and nursing homes (Lahmann et al., 2010). A recent study on the causes of pressure ulcer de...
Kick, Ella. "Overview: Health Care and the Aging Population: What Are Today's Challenges?" The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. N.p., n.d. Web.
An important step to decrease an ageist attitude is to take a step back and recognize biases and preconceived ideas that one has about older adults (DeBrew, 2015). Recognizing biases in combination with furthering one’s education about the effects of aging and the specific needs of older adults will help increase compassionate care. To allow for effective interventions it is important that the nurse understand that illness and infection manifest differently in older adults than they do in the younger population (DeBrew, 2015). In addition, through ethnographic study it was found that when nurses spend time doing activities with older adults it helps strengthen relationships and sense of community between care providers and elderly patients (DeBrew, 2015). According to the article, “occupational therapists who worked with older adults felt ‘stigmatized’ by their peers because their work was viewed as less challenging and requiring less skill and intellect than caring for other populations” (DeBrew, 2015). To promote compassionate patient care it is important that nurses and other professionals get support from their peers to confirm that their work is not insignificant and looked down upon. Finally, include the older adult while creating the plan of care to show them that they are a valued part of their healthcare
Jean Watson is a well-respected American nursing theorist who created the Theory on Human Caring. Watson’s concept on caring for a human being is simple, yet has much depth and meaning, and holds strong for nurses to work with compassion, wisdom, love, and caring. The Theory on Human Caring is necessary for every nurse, as it is our job to care for others in a genuine and sensitive way. The theory is extensive; its core foundation is based on nine concepts all interrelated and primarily focused on a nurse giving a patient care with compassion, wisdom, love, and caring (Watson, J., 1999). The nine essential aspects consist of: values, faith-hope, sensitivity, trust, feelings, decision-making, teaching-learning, environment, and human needs. Watson also created the Caritas Process consists of ten different ways of giving care:
Miller, C. A. (2009). Nursing for wellness in older adults: Theory and practice (5th ed.). Cleveland, Ohio: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
America is a country where everyone is free to live however they like, but it is possible for some people to live a happy life, if no one is around to take care of them. Nearly three hundred million people reside in the America, and out of those three hundred million populations, senior citizens make a 12 percent of the entire population. A senior citizen is commonly known as a person who is over the age of 65 and living on retirement, or known as social security benefits (Census Bureau). Ever since Franklin D. Roosevelt implied the act of Social Security in 1935, seniors are regularly provided a financial help, but seniors, along with financial help, seeks also accompany of someone who can look after them. Because of constantly growing needs of senior citizens, government as well as many non-profit organizations is working on helping seniors. Therefore I decided to research on this particular issue in my community, and I found that 64.5% of seniors are living alone in metropolitan area of Atlanta.