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Importance of Educating Nursing Students Essay

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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.

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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

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