Challenges and Opportunities for Improving Geriatric Nursing Care
Angelia F. Russell
University of Massachusetts Boston
Author Note This paper was prepared for Nursing 360, Section 06D, taught by Professor Peterson.
Abstract
The geriatric patient population is not only increasing in numbers and longevity, but also in the complexity of their health care issues and needs. On the raise as well are the barriers and prejudices with caring for the aging population amongst healthcare providers. It is these barriers and prejudices that hinder healthcare providers to want to take the initiative to improve care for the aging. Preservation of our elder patient population’s dignity should be of the upmost importance. In order to
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Bennett and Flaherty-Robb (2003) stated, “the average annual drug expenditure for diabetes is $1379, for heart disease, $1187, and for hypertension, $1021.” In the ER, we see a lot of noncompliance with medications. The medications are either not picked up at the pharmacy or the medication is not taken correctly (i.e., halved, skipped doses). Medications not properly taken as ordered by the doctor can lead to a multitude of potential complications. Drug programs such as those at Wal-Mart and Target have $4 prescription. As nurses, we go through both lists to make sure that the medication the doctor orders is on the list if we think the noncompliance is secondary to financial. If the medication prescribed is not on the list, we approach the doctor to ask for a substitute or another medication to be prescribed for the patient. Also an issue is the ability to get to the doctor’s office or the hospital. Most of the time the patient doesn’t want to feel as if they are a burden to their family members and won’t ask family members for a ride to the doctor’s office or the hospital.
Lastly, another potential complication related to financial is hypothermia. Having to choose between heating the home, food, and medication is difficult. Complicating the issue are the chronic conditions that put the elder at increased risk for hypothermia. Making healthcare more affordable for those that have supported us as we grew should
Aging is a summary term of complex biological processes that occurs over the course of life. As an individual age’s, they experience a cognitive, functional and social decline that affects their activities of daily living and general health. As a result of these changes, the older population becomes more susceptible to a variety of illnesses. However, nurses can lessen the severity of these aging related illnesses by teaching and providing the best care for their clients in order to decrease the number of elders that suffer from these diseases through a variety of interventions and strategies. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the nurses’ role in promoting healthy aging in the older population, by addressing a significant issue that impairs the health of many older Canadian adults.
The key issues that I am going to discuss from my reflection are disempowerment due to a person’s age where either their family or care giver answer on behalf of the elderly patient and deny the patient of their own voice. Emotional problems are a common in the elderly and this particular psychological aspect often goes unnoticed.
Taking care of the individuals that are getting older takes many different needs. Most of these needs cannot be given from the help of a family. This causes the need of having to put your love one into a home and causing for the worry of how they will be treated. It is important for the family and also the soon to be client to feel at home in their new environment. This has been an issue with the care being provided for each individual, which has lead to the need of making sure individuals have their own health care plan.
Experience working in the field of health care lends insight to the growing needs of the older adult population, and the barriers which impede our capacity to meet them. As the Baby Boomer age is approaching older adulthood, the rise for financial,
Our elderly population is living longer than ever before and not all of them are entering into a nursing home. They are choosing to stay in their own home or their caregiver is choosing it for them. Some caregivers are choosing to move their ageing love one in the home with them. Whatever the case may be, there is an increased need for some type of home health as it applies to the elderly population. “Medicare will pay the full cost of professional help only if the physician
As a person ages, theirs body cannot perform the way it used to. This will cause many elderly people to loose their job or choose to go into retirement. Both of these options cause a loss in health care as well and a reduced or exterminated income. Here alone lies a reason that the elderly population is challenged. The elderly population also has a tendency to develop a chronic illness that can be life threatening if not treated or controlled properly. This means that need for health care treatments also increases. At least 40% of those over age 65 will have nutrition-related health problems requiring treatment or management (Gigante, 2012). It is important to realize that 10% of people over the age of 65 and will develop Alzheimer’s disease and 50% of those over the age of 85 will develop this disease (Gigante, 2012). More elderly African American men and women use government aid than white men and women. Therefore, this population will be vulnerable because of the lack of funding, proper health care and insurance.
In conclusion, after reading this report, I have deep understanding of human rights of older adults. As a professional society, it can impact people’s attitude towards the elderly and also change the quality of life for old people in
One of the causes for the rise in health care consumption is that fact that we are living longer. When people are living longer there is a higher cost associated with it and most of the healthcare cost is incurred towards the last few years of our life. As we get older and the aging process begins to set in and our body stops functioning like it used it. Daily activities such as getting dressed, going to the bathroom and such will be much harder to do with out the help of a family member or a caretaker. But the sad reality is most working families don’t have time to help out grandma or grandpa because they have to work two or three jobs to put food on the table and pay all the bills. So grandma and grandpa will end up in a retirement home, nursing home, or assisted living facility based on their need level. And costs for anyone of these
We can’t purport to have a national goal to “eliminate health disparities” and continue to accept the social inequities that come from such a major gap in wealth. If we hope to solve the pressing issues of eldercare, these inequities must be addressed head on now and in the future. Otherwise, those who are caregivers now may not have access to the care they will need in the future.
Whilst searching for literature, it shown that some elderly patients specific needs were not being met. The World Health Organisation (WHO) believe that it is important for health professionals to take a holistic approach towards the elderly patients, to see explore any other possible factors that will influence the reduction of their quality of life. (WHO, 2011).
Not only are patients impacted by this issue, but so is the healthcare system. Consumer reports estimates that “$200 billion per year is spent in the U.S. on the unnecessary and improper use of medication, for the drugs themselves and related medical costs, according to the market research firm IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics” (Carr, T. 2017). America’s health care is very expensive and we can save
In Being Mortal, Atul Gawande painted a little depressing picture of the realities faced by the elderly in the US nowadays: declining health status, economic insecurity, and loss of independence. It seems once the older people move into nursing homes or assisted living facilities, they lose autonomy, dignity and privacy as the institutions are not able to fully individualize care. Even though the situation has been improving, it still shocks me to see how unhappy some of the elderly are in these circumstances. Realizing senior care facilities often fail to address all aspects of well-being, I would like to explore the issues of promoting both objective and subjective component in quality of care for the older people.
census discloses that the county age group is rapidly increasing and the trend will continue grow from a 99,086 to 140,000 by the year 2030 (Maryland Department of Aging, 2014). Research has shown that social inequalities are inter-reliant in the society and the impacts on health are present in all ages, however, it is predominant with the seniors leaving in the community. As it indicates, to reduce these disparities, it requires multi-interventional and collaborative approaches in addressing the various factors of health, it services and it cost. Although the United States has had some effective policies and few good health programs, however, providing a stable and adequate income for most of the seniors and providing a good public health care system goes a long way in improving their health and also increasing life expectancy. Much can and should be done to reduce inequalities that exist among the seniors and public health should take led in addressing the various aspect that affects the seniors. This paper has discussed the barriers to healthcare among the seniors and it has provided innumerable recommendations that would help improve their
This paper will review the many aspects of long-term care problems and many challenges there are within Long-Term care. We will look at rising costs within long-Term Care, patient abuse, will look at the quality of life, shortages of nurses and demand that the elderly are putting on the medical field. The type of care that Long-Term Care had been giving to its patients and the changes within Long-Term Care.
It is important to understand that patients have been experiencing aging bias for a very long time. It is also evident in the medical profession as well, and one needs to do more to ensure that everyone is treated fairly especially the elderly patients. The elderly patients need to treat with the utmost respect and dignity. One needs to understand that the elderly are the ones who pave the way for the younger generation. Therefore, it is important that one takes the time out of their busy assignments to listen to what the older patients have to say and respond to them in an appropriate manner. This paper will discuss how aging has impact one nursing practice, aging bias that one has witnessed during their nursing practice, and a community plan to discuss aging bias.