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
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If older people contract a chronic disease it also affects them differently. In a 1998 study, Abrams & Beers discovered that older adults are affected disproportionately with diabetes, dementia, geriatric depression, stroke, osteoporosis, Parkinson?s disease, heart failure, and arthritis and that the treatments and causes of these conditions can differ based on age (Grocki & Fox, 2004).
Most elderly people have at least one chronic condition and typically they have several conditions that must be managed simultaneously. Chronic illness causes some activity limitations for personal care in 49 % of all older individuals, and 27% have difficulty with home management activities. The older the age, the greater the likelihood of difficulty with self-care activities and independent living (Eliopoulos, 2001, p.17).
Now that gerontological nursing has been defined and differentiated from other area of nursing, it is important to discuss why it will become so significant in the future. ?By the year 2030, 20% of the population will be 65 and older. The oldest old, people over the age of 85, are the fastest growing segment of the population? (Gould, Sherman, Mariano, & Wallace, 2001).
It is no wonder that the number of nursing colleges
The webinar titled “Succeeding as a Nurse Educator” was presented by Diane Billings, EdD, RN, FAAN. The three objectives for the webinar were to be able to “differentiate between the roles of faculty appointment: teaching, service, and scholarship; implement strategies for working smarter, not harder; and develop a career plan for success as a nurse educator” (Billings, 2013).
There is a documentary from 2006 on PBS called Living Old from Frontline that interviews many elderly patients and their care-takers about living longer and the effect it has on them. It was very interesting to watch because it showed both sides of many problems facing the older adult and their families along with the potential decisions that will need to be made by them as people are living so much longer now. The purpose of this discussion is to address something I learned that I did not previously know, review what I found the most surprising, and what piece of information that will most likely affect my nursing practice after viewing this documentary.
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
As of 2008, there were about 753,600 Licensed Practical Nurses and 2,618,700 Registered Nurses in the United States (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010-11). In the year 2018, the LPN employment percentage is expected to rise 21% while the RN rate should be approximately 22% (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010-11). This may not seem that high, but it is, when one considers that the expected employment rate for a Dentist is only expected to be 16% (U.S Department of Labor, 2010-11). Nursing is a highly respected and sought after career because every person that enters this profession is able to make a difference and is needed by the general population for his/her skills and contributions to the medical field. When a person is contemplating entering
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,
Nursing is not just a collection of tasks. To provide safe and effective care to the clients, nurses must integrate knowledge, skills and attitudes to make sound judgement and decisions. This essay describes some of the essential knowledge, skills and attitudes of nursing and discusses why they are essential attributes of a competent nurse.
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In searching for resources for this assignment, most of the articles written have at least one thing in common. The baby boomers are getting older, as a result, they will represent 20% of the total population from now until 2030. The number of persons who are 65 years and older is 12% of the population, the life expectancy of 77.9 years has caused this increase. The older people over age 85 is at about 40%, and the number of centenarians is on the rise (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). Longer life expectancies will intensify the demand for competent geriatric nursing care to reduce the years in which function and health are impaired. It is exciting to see that quality geriatric nursing education
This essay will highlight one of the key concepts of nursing .The concept that will be discussed in this essay will be communication, the reason for this chosen concept is that communication plays a vital role in everyday occurrences which defines how a situation is perceived by yourself, others and how communication is effectively handled . There will be a definition on what communication is also an evaluation of the chosen concept will be explored throughout this essay.
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The medical world is about to entire unfamiliar territory in the very near future. The first Baby Boomer hit retirement age in 2011. Progressively, the medical world will be flooded with the largest aging population in history. The issue isn’t the number of those in need but the number of those available to meet that need. The graduate nurses are finding that each country has their own minimum standard in order to work. The United States is one of the few that has yet to mandate BSN as the minimum. In order to keep pace with the rest of the world, nursing schools are initiating the RN to BSN push.
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