The Importance of Educating Nursing Students in Gerontological Nursing
Abstract
The number of people over the age of 65 is more than ever before and will only increase as the generation of ?baby boomers? starts to retire. However, there are not enough schools of nursing that offer coursework in gerontological nursing as part of their core curriculum. In addition, nursing faculty is not adequately trained to instruct students in this critical area of nursing. Nursing students must understand and appreciate the demand for care of the aging population so that they can learn and apply this knowledge in their nursing careers where they will inevitably encounter a vast majority of senior citizens.
The Importance of Educating Nursing Students in Gerontological Nursing
There is a lack of gerontological nursing education in schools of nursing today. Thus there are few nurses that are equipped to effectively care for senior citizens. This is a problem because the population of senior citizens in the United States is increasing and will continue to increase significantly in the years to come. Therefore it is important for nursing students to understand what gerontological nursing encompasses and why it is so important.
Students of nursing also need to encounter mandatory curriculum that is specifically designed to teach them how to care for this segment of the population. Therefore, schools of nursing and their faculty must be up to date and knowledgeable in the practice of gerontological nursing so that they can provide relevant curriculum and adept training to up and coming nurses.
Initially, it is important to understand exactly what gerontological nursing is. The terms gerontological nursing and geriatric nursing are terms that are often used interchangeably. However, while both disciplines involve the care of senior citizens, there are important distinctions. ?Gerontological nursing involves the care of aging people and emphasizes the promotion of the highest possible quality of life and wellness. Geriatric nursing focuses on the care of the sick aged? (Eliopoulos, 2001, p.5).
Gerontological nursing also differs from the adult nursing issues that students will encounter. Eliopoulos (2001, p.17) indicate...
... middle of paper ...
.... Geriatric nursing and healthy aging (1st ed.). St. Louis, MO:
Mosby, Inc.
Eliopoulos, C. (2001). Gerontological nursing (5th ed.). Philadelphia: Lipponcott, Williams,
Wilkins.
Gould, E., Sherman, A., Mariano, C., & Wallace, M. (2001) Attitudes about aging. In M. Mazey,
T. Fulmer, & C. Mariano (Eds.), Best nursing practices in care for older adults: incorporating
Essential gerontologic content into baccalaureate nursing education and staff development.
(3rd ed., pp.1:1-1:23). New York University, Steinhardt School of Education, Division of
Nursing.
Grocki, J.H., & Fox, G.E., Jr. (2004). Gerontology coursework in undergraduate nursing
programs in the United States: a regional study [Electronic version]. Journal of
Gerontological Nursing, 30, 46-51. Retrieved March 20, 2004 from the CINAHL database.
Hollinger-Smtih, L. (2003). How to care for an aging nation: start with educating the educators
[Electronic version]. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 29, 23-27. Retrieved March 20, 2004
from the CINAHL database.
University of St. Francis. (2004, January 21). Retrieved April 2, 2004, from http://www.stfrancis.
edu/pressreleases/nursing_grant.htm
Nursing is constantly evolving and changing, in order to be more efficient in providing care than in the past. The nursing profession includes professionals who are not only caregivers but support systems as well as educators. All these factors help to provide optimal care for patients and to also better serve their families and the community. All nurses are encouraged to break down the simplistic notion society has about the nursing profession because nursing is a multi-faceted profession encompassing many different factors that are beneficial to overall human development and health.
In reading the article Abe Markman “Overcoming Hidden Bias” I appreciate how he openly uncovers his own prejudice bias despite of his marriage to an African American woman.
Hiller, S. M., & Barrow, G. M. (2011). Aging, the individual, and society. (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
When the league was created, the game was only made up of seventeen teams, both from small and large cities(History.com Staff NBA is born). The first NBA finals was played in 1947, and the first All-Star game was in 1951(NBA.com NBA Top Moments). However, through the 1950s fan support was lacking. By 1954, the NBA was down to only eight teams(History.com Staff NBA is born). This same year a person by the name of Leo Ferris invented the twenty-four second shot clock. This helped speed up the pace of play, which allowed the game to become faster and more exciting. In the 1960s the NBA was beginning to grow, but a rival league known as the American Basketball Association of the ABA challenged the NBA. However, this didn’t last long, by 1976 the ABA and NBA merged into one league. Another milestone for the
Journals along with our textbook speak upon how important it is to learn about gerontology and the efforts social workers can assemble to secure a positive experience. Many social work institutes recognize the current aging process related to many aspects and continue to research future commodities and resources for older adults. The population of older adults will continue to flourish leading to 72.1 million older persons by 2030, drastically growing from the year 2000. (Glicken) As well as the population increasing, the lifespan of older adults is believed to go well beyond 120 years of age.(Glicken) Many older adults have served younger generations without looking for compensations which makes me suggest that it is only fair to treat older adults with dignity and respect. Aging in the Know states that it is important to understand that each older person is unique and acknowledging environmental factors and/or genetics is important in finding situations that corresponds with the individual and their experiences. I’m sure nursing homes, texts, articles, etc. agree that promoting a healthy lifestyle for older adults is valuable. Pat...
The term “ageism” is not easily understood by most of the population because of its acceptance as normal behavior due to the ingrained attitudes that most people develop in their youth, but health care workers must fully embrace the term within their profession in order to avoid becoming a contributor to the historical prevalence of prejudices and discrimination. The term ageism is defined by Klein and Liu (2010) as “the discrimination of individuals based solely on age” (p. 334). “Ageism is a social construct that is internalized in the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of individuals” (Klein & Liu, 2010, p. 334). Robert Butler, a well-known gerontologist, coined the term “ageism” citing that the discrimination and prejudice associated with this term is often based on the lack of a person’s experience with older people (Ferrini & Ferrini, 2013, p. 6). Ferrini and Ferrini (2013) refer to the strong influence that cultural beliefs and attitudes as well as a person’s current age influence the perception of aging (p. 6). Everywhere within society there are influences that encourage ageist attitudes such as media conveyances through movies, books, television, greeting cards, magazines and the Internet (Ferrini and Ferrini, 2013, p. 6). These negative connotations related to growing older begin to influence all people at a very young age and therefore impact their attitudes as they make career decisions. This has directly impacted the number of health care providers who specialize in geriatrics as well as the attitudes of those who do provide services for older adults. These false perceptions and negative attitudes are currently impacting the q...
Zimmermann, D. T., Miner, D. C., & Zittel, B. (2010). Advancing the education of nurses: a call for action. Journal of Nursing Administration, 40(12), 529-533.
White Lois, Duncan Gena and Baumle Wendy. Foundations of Adult Health Nursing, 2010. New York: Cengage Learning, Print.
older adults. Journal of Nursing Education, 47(6), 269-271. Retrieved from CINAHL Plus with Full Text database.
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
The puppet had to attach to the puppeteer in some way, the solution was a harness that transferred a majority of the weight to the hips. What they avoided as much as possible was making the Skeksis look like puppets, they needed to look consistent. Just like actors have variations in features and quirks, the Skeksis puppets needed to be unique in their own way. SkekSil the Chamberlain was the most complicated, it was made up of twenty-one cable controls and required four people to maneuver. The Skeksis faces were practically as expressive as a human face in the
When the league was formed, the game was only made up of seventeen teams, both from small and large cities(History.com Staff NBA is born). The first NBA finals was played in 1947, and the first All-Star game was in 1951(NBA.com NBA Top Moments). However, through the 1950s fan support was lacking. By 1954, the NBA was down to only eight teams(History.com Staff NBA is born). This same year a person by the name of Leo Ferris invented the twenty-four second shot clock. This helped speed up the pace of play, which allowed the game to become faster and more exciting. In the 1960s the NBA was beginning to grow, but a rival league known as the American Basketball Association of the ABA challenged the NBA. However, this didn’t last long, by 1976 the ABA and NBA merged into one league. Another milestone for the
“Kindness changes everything” Last but not least, when you do something kind back you never know what you are going to get in return but when we do something kind we should never be ready to receive something back because when we do something nice it is not always about doing nice things it is how people think about others not just themselves but they think of others like we should do in this world. “We need to learn how to love one another and accept one another.” Last, This quote mean that if we don’t accept someone for who they are then what is the point of being nice to that person when all you are going to do is judge them for no reason and just like Ellen says “be kind to one another” and that is what we should all do so that we can all be kind to each other, In addition, we should be able to accept people how they are no matter what they are people in the world they are not a trash can to just throw away like they are
McConatha, J. T., Schnell, F., Volkwein, K., Riley, L., & Leach, E. (2003). Attitudes toward aging: a comparative analysis of young adults from the United States and Germany. International Journal Of Aging & Human Development, 57(3), 203–215.