Dr. Peg Gray-Vickrey: Article Analysis

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.

Modern medical advancements have significantly decreased the prevalence and severity of infectious disease as well as the treatment of acute, traumatic conditions. Pharmacological research has also gained insight into the management of chronic disease. Still, there is an epidemic of chronic, treatable diseases like stroke, heart disease, and kidney disease. Hypertension proves to be the underlying factor associated with these diseases. Hypertension is often referred to as the silent killer because of its indication in deadly disease, and the importance of monitoring ones blood pressure is vital. Lifestyle, diet, and genetic predisposition are all factors of high blood pressure. Chronic high blood pressure above safe levels, known as hypertension, puts elevated physical stress on the renal and cardiovascular systems. By controlling this factor in patients, healthcare providers can decrease cardiovascular events, improve health outcomes, and decrease overall mortality. Patient education is often overlooked in its role in the control and prevention of high blood pressure. This paper analyzes the causes and physiology behind high blood pressure as they relate to the current nursing interventions. The role of nurses is discussed in relation to patient education regarding high blood pressure, and educational approaches are analyzed.

I chose a learning plan topic that would increase my nursing practice competency as a senior nursing student, would be relevant to my placement setting, would build on my knowledge obtained from completing NSE417 – Nursing Practice IV class and NSE407 – Nursing: Professional Issues and Trends class, and was approved by my Primary Preceptor and Faculty Advisor (FA). With a global trend of an increasing senior population and having a placement in a nursing home, it was important to choose a learning plan that focused on the challenges and trends in senior safety. My Overarching goal for my learning plan was to expand my knowledge and critical thinking skills related to expertly assessing and managing elder frailty in a long-term care setting by Tuesday, March 1, 2016. By completing this learning plan, I have fulfilled and demonstrated the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO)’s Continuing Competency Standard by performing a self-assessment of my knowledge, developing and implementing a learning plan, and evaluating the outcomes of the plan (CNO, 2002). Ultimately, the goal is to enhance geriatric care at my placement setting and advance my competency in delivering safe, ethical, competent client-centred care.

More people are living much longer lives than in years past. People are very surprised to be living much longer lives than they thought they would. Health care has played a large part in patient longevity. There are many normal changes that come along with aging, however, because people are living longer these normal changes can become chronic problems. Common aging problems that can make the older adult a vulnerable population are reviewed in Gerontological Nursing (Tabloski, 2014) and can include nutritional needs, medication management, sleep changes, oral or mouth care, renal problems and musculoskeletal concerns. According to A Profile of Older Americans: 2013 (http://www.hhs.gov), there are a large amount

K.H. is a 67-year-old African-American man with primary hypertension and diabetes mellitus. He is currently taking an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor and following a salt-restricted weight loss diet. He is about 30 pounds over his ideal weight. At his clinic visit his blood pressure is noted to be 135/96. His heart rate is 70 beats/min. He has no complaints. His wife brought a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope with her in the hope of learning to take her husband’s blood pressure at home.

Many elderly and their family cannot determine what are normal aging and what are not; therefore, educating them is the key role for nurses to promote safety and health for older adults. Not only assessing physical changes but also mental health assessment is important because those age-related physical changes may cause depression in older adults, which leads to other problems like “difficulty with sleeping,

John was diagnosed with heart failure a year ago after being hospitalised three times in the space of four months. Stewart (2004) feels that a diagnoses of heart failure is problematic in older patients as their symptoms can often mimic other

This data shows the ages and systolic blood pressures (measured in millimeters of mercury) of 9 randomly selected adults, (38, 116), (41, 120), (45, 123), (48, 135), (51, 142), (53, 145), (57, 148), (61, 150), (65, 152).

According to Statistics Canada, aging population has steadily increased since the mid-1960. The age of 65 and older comprised 15.7% of the country’s population. Promoting health in these aging population is very crucial to minimise the severity of health complications that might occur in the long run. Gerontological Nursing involves the care of aging people and emphasize the promotion of the highest possible quality of life and wellness throughout the lifespan (Eliopoulos, c2014 p73). Aging people need Gerontological Nurses who are knowledgeable and willing to promote health and optimum quality of life with the consideration of their core needs such as physiological balance, connection and gratification (Eliopoulos, c2014 p78).

Demographers predict that by 2061, 25% of Canada’s population will be over the age of 65 (BOOK 46). This will lead to changes in the social infrastructure of Canada. The health care system will have to adjust to support all the needs of the older people. The main type of ageism that is seen is inter-generational ageism, which is ageism between younger and older populations. The younger population of Canada is ageist towards older adults because they think they’re old and going to die anyways, so they do not want to waste medical resources on them. In the article, Dr. Beauchamp said that many of his patients were turned down from hospitals due to their age. However, he does not accept them right away; he examines the individual and examines their MRI and ultrasound images to see if there is anything he can do to help. Also, older adults usually contract chronic conditions which take more time and resources to cure, whereas health care professionals are focused on treating acute illnesses. The reason for this happening, could be that older adults are not included in drug researches, which leads to physicians not knowing how to treat diseases in the geriatrics field and not being able to provide certain treatments that may improve their patient’s life. Many times, health care professionals classify their patients’ symptoms as part of the aging process and do not assess the individual to understand what is causing

adults older patients are more frail and they have more complex health issues causing them to

With the population of adults 65 and over steadily climbing, medical professionals and the healthcare system are struggling to keep up. One major issue concerning the healthcare system is that it is not set up properly provide care for these older adults. The physicians today, who regularly see patients, focus mainly has been; diagnose—usually in a 15-20 minute office visit, treat, and cure. Many of these senior citizens have multiple chronic illnesses or diseases, which require time to manage and treat. The problem is that they may not be able to explain what the real problem to a doctor in that time.

Chronic disease and conditions are usually defined as those diseases which last for more than six months and which have a severe effect on the life of the individuals (Chronic Conditions and Injury, para.1). While chronic diseases can affect people of all ages and demographics, these types of diseases are very often found in the elderly. Chronic disease are also characterized by "…multiple risk factors, long latency periods, a prolonged course of illness and functional impairment or disability" (Key indicators of progress for chronic disease and associated determinants, 2011, p. 1). Chronic disease is also found to be more prevalent in the ageing demographic of most countries.

at the time of your visit. We have divided the DGA in two parts, each with three

Although we all become old someday, how many people are aware of what are normal or abnormal processes of aging? It is very important for us as nursing students to learn about them in order to take care of older adults. As a part of geriatric clinical, I had an opportunity to interview one of the residents at the Continuing Care Center.