One of the truths in the world is that everyone gets older. It doesn’t matter what gender or race a person is, everyone gets old and with age comes the decline of the physical form that one might have been celebrated for when they were in their youth. According to Access to Disability Date, over half of the people that are 65 and higher are disabled in some way or another. The definition of being “disabled” is one that has a physical or mental condition that limits movements, senses, or activities. The misconception that people have today is that all disability is a condition that one is born into or something that is wrong with the human brain. However, we never stop to realize that more than half of the people in the world will become disabled as they age. Knowing this fact, America needs to start thinking about the elderly disabled. Even though 2/3 of the America’s healthcare budget goes into Medical, Medicare, and Medicaid, there seems to be a lack of specific attention towards the elderly disabled. Similar to the healthcare system in America, the church seems to be less interested in caring not just for the elderly but the elderly disabled. This is a chronic issue that needs to be address and fixed. I have experienced this problem as well while working in this field. Scripture clearly commands us to care for the elderly, “Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father…” (1 Tim 5:1-2). The trend for the Christian church today is all about changing the way we do church by having a younger group or more contemporary worship. However, the elderly disabled cannot change that well with the times. If we are to be part of the body of Christ, aren’t we supposed to welcome everyone to the house ... ... middle of paper ... ...lled the more money I would make neglecting the care for the patients and the wellbeing of my residents. The doctors and the nurses that also worked for me had this mentality as well. While writing this research people I confessed of my shortfalls in the way I did business. I believe that it all starts from how we see the world. Do we see the world in the of the world or do we see the world a da disciple of Christ. As Christians we must be able to determine what is right and what is wrong in the eyes of the world and not in our own eyes. The elderly disabled was once young and vibrant; let us not dismiss the fact that the elderly disabled are also people as well and not just some patients that we have to cure. The elderly disabled cannot help themselves so it is our job to help them through physical care, mental care, and most importantly physical care.
“How can I make a difference?” that was the first thought when I learned about this assignment. When I was assigned a patient at the community health worker’s office I was nervous. I was given discharge papers and I was told I had 30 minutes left before seeing my patient in outpatient. By reading the documents I learned my patient was a 46 year old quadriplegic who was discharged from the Temple hospital for a DVT several weeks ago. I talked to Sherron, the
When we see patients, we must remember that we are not simply treating a disease. We are caring for people with lives, hobbies, jobs, families, and friends, who are likely in a very vulnerable position. We must ensure that we use the status of physicians to benefit patients first and foremost, and do what we promised to when we entered the profession: provide care and improve quality of life, and hopefully leave the world a little better than it was
As I was listening to Carol’s story, I realized that her story is one of many patients. Sure, she was lucky that her husband had advocated on her behalf when she was most vulnerable and she took over once she could but how many people could not? Juggling only two balls in the air becomes tricky once we name them “patient care” and “budget”. If we were to place Carol in an ideal hospital, would she have had the same expe...
Churches have historically sought to minister to the special needs of widows, orphans and the aged. Today many churches are reexamining their efforts along these lines in light of the changing cultural and social situation. As concern for the plight of the aged has increased, so too have the resources available to the church. Health systems, social agencies and informational services all stand ready to provide support to churches taking on new projects or otherwise strengthening their ministry with the aging.
Last month, I shadowed a physician for four days. When I arrived at her office on the first day, she said to me, "Prepare yourself, we are going to the Provident." The Provident is a nursing home for the severely mentally ill. Many of the patients living there are under fifty years old, some are as young as thirty. None of the residents have any money. All are receiving welfare and are on Medicare.
As stated by C.Dave Hingsberg “For hundreds of years, western society regarded the mentally retarded as sad accidents of nature to be closeted behind walls of secrecy and silence. Thousands were forcibility sterilized in an attempt to erase the genetic stain of their misfortune. But scientists now know that barely 10%of mental retardation is passed on genetically” (Hingsberg, Dave C.2001). This section came directly from the video “Is Love Enough”. Throughout history, there was the belief that the disabled would produce offspring that would be burdensome to society. Policies were put into place that forced sterilization of 60,000 American citizens, some as young as ten years old (Reilly 1991).
I believe that we should always think of others needs and do no harm to others even if they have harmed you in some way. I treat others the way that I would want them to treat me and I expect that others will treat me the same way. I understand that not everyone feels the same as I do and that I cannot control the way that others decide to treat me. I show compassion for everyone I come in contact with and I treat every patient the same way despite the fact that they may be unruly or even try to hurt me. I have accepted the fact that there are some people out there who will try to hurt me despite the fact that all I want to do is help them. I feel that everyone in the health care profession should feel the same way as I do and try to keep themselves from losing their mercy that they show towards others. After being in the health care field for so long, many people stop caring for others and become detached from the patients. I agree that we cannot take every case personally but we still need to retain our humanity and continue to show compassion to fellow
A- Value seeing health care situations “through patients’ eyes”. The patient that I have chosen for this discussion is an elderly woman. Her diagnosis was a fracture of the left femur, which happened as a resident in a long-term care facility. Comorbidities include Alzheimer's disease and type II diabetes. She was described by other staff as being mean, uncooperative, difficult, and lazy; little did they know that I was a nurse at the long-term care facility and have cared for this woman many times prior to this hospitalization.
This is one of the values that is of the utmost importance when being a nurse. We must have compassion for our patients. We as nurses will make an impact every single day in the lives of people in our community. We need to realize that we are the voice of the voiceless and the advocates for those who cannot advocate for themselves. You realize that even by helping one person, you are making a difference and are making the world a better place one patient at a time. Some of us may enter the field and some of us may be continuing on in our education, but we all share one thing in common, we are all nurses and we all made
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.
I found a job as CNA for the patient who had disabilities. One patient in particular changed the direction of my life and started me thinking about working in medicine. I took care of an older woman who was unable to ambulate due to her diagnosis of stroke. She experienced chronic weakness of bilateral lower extremity so I supported her with my arms to steady her. When I looked into her eyes, I could feel her saying, “you truly care about me, understand me, and thank you for taking the time to sense my expression and desire.” That’s the care all of us have deep inside, where our motives no longer become self-seeking but other-seeking. This care has the power to exponentially change that person’s life and the lives of others. It is true that other patients helped me decide to go into medicine, but Stacy had the biggest impact in my
After completing registered nursing school in 2006, a few years later, I obtained a bachelor’s of Science in Nursing in 2016. Over the last 10 years, I have tried to look for inefficient procedures, finds ways to streamline them, and consistently have striven to boost the productivity of everyone around me. Working as a nursing supervisor an area hospital for the last 3 years, I have tried to promote healthy patient outcomes. I understand the need for procedures but I also try to maximized the time spent educating the patients and family. By allowing time for good explanations to both the patient and family development of an understanding their disease process can occur. This empowers them to make informed decisions and promote health improvements. Throughout my career in nursing, I have tried to successfully communicate and partner with other members in
When working and during my clinical rotation in long term care I had patients with functional limitations due to chronic illness or patients that were there to stay and live there. It was limiting to certain clinical experiences. During this rotation I got hands on experience with patients with acute conditions, infections and accidents.
In which health care professionals have instituted “client-centered” or “person-centered” practices in their medical practice. According to the Medical and Health Service Act of 1985, health care providers must provide quality care “ based on respect for patient self-determination and integrity,” (Ekelund, Dahlin-Ivanoff, & Eklund, 2014, p.118). The authors of the article address the issue that self-determination for older adults often have little to no control over their decision making. They are often influenced intentionally or unintentionally by other’s opinions. Therefore, the authors address the discriminatory feelings that others have towards older adults, especially those who have lost control over their bodily or cognitive functions. It is important to be aware of these issues of discrimination in order to remind providers of their professional values and legal responsibility to treat the patients with respect and integrity (Ekelund et al.,
This is the underlying theme in the essays “Disability” by Nancy Mairs, “Why the Able-Bodied Just Don’t Get it” by Andre Dubus, and “Should I Have Been Killed at Birth?” by Harriet Johnson. In the essay “Disability,” Nancy Mairs discusses the lack of media attention for the disabled, writing: “To depict disabled people in the ordinary activities of life is to admit that there is something ordinary about disability itself, that it may enter anyone’s life.” An ordinary person has very little exposure to the disabled, and therefore can only draw conclusions from what is seen in the media. As soon as people can picture the disabled as regular people with a debilitating condition, they can begin to respect them and see to their needs without it seeming like an afterthought or a burden.