Do you love older people? Do you aim to do something for them? Do you have a vision of working with the aging population? Then geriatric nursing might be the apt course to pursue.
Students specialising in the field of gerontology attend elderly patients who may be suffering from various aging diseases like Alzheimer’s, Osteoporosis and more. It is an exceptionally demanding specialisation in the field of nursing. According to a survey, more than half of the hospitals are for elderly people, people who are more than 65 years old, but merely one percent of nurse work in this field.
Students interested in pursuing should have a unique set of skills and have to address numerous challenges. They need to play several roles of advocate, a resource as well as a liaison. A geriatric nurse should have an associate or bachelor’s degree with classroom lessons and practical learning. There are several reputed colleges like Boston College, Brandman University, Caribbean University, and Armstrong University, which provide best geriatric nursing courses. Students pursuing this course have bright chances of working in private homes, hospital geriatric units and nursing homes with a high salary.
Curious?
Now let’s discuss in detail the salient features and challenges of geriatric nursing.
Before understanding the primary features of geriatric nursing, one must have a comprehensive idea of what geriatric nursing is.
Geriatric nursing is specialising in the field of gerontology. Geriatric nurses have to specifically take care of elderly patients and aging adults. They are a pivotal part of a team of healthcare who help the aging population to maintain their mobility, independence and life quality. Trained to attend to the need of the elderly patients they have to work closely with primary care physicians, social workers and families to provide attentive care.
They also focus on the growth and the implementation of treatment plans for those patients suffering from cancer, stroke, dementia, arthritis, chronic pain, impaired mobility and much more. For example, In the United States, much more than 800,000 elderly people suffer from strokes. 60% of them survive, but they need constant attentive care.
Now, that you know what geriatric nursing is let’s understand the fundamentals.
Students can pursue a career in geriatric nursing by completing nursing courses. There are numerous nursing schools which have geriatric nursing modules that are included in the program.
The elder care courses can also be found in graduate-level geriatric care manager degree and certificate programs.
Now let’s focus on a chapter of the curriculum of geriatric nursing.
Since geriatric nursing is all about taking care of the elderly patients and aging adults the students are trained to conduct entire background research before treating a patient. One of the main chapters included in the curriculum is “Features of the crisis of later maturity.” This lesson gives lessons on diseases, features the elderly develop and how to deal with such a crisis.
The chapter focusses on the following points:
Students pursuing the course can get a comprehensive idea on various aspects of changes an elderly patient goes through and how to handle such patients.
It is difficult for the elderly people to deal with the aging process as well as the diseases that occur. It is necessary to understand the challenges faced by them.
Geriatric nurses are primarily responsible for taking care of elderly patients. Thus, it is essential that they discuss a list of health topics with senior citizens. The topics are as follows:
These are some of the diseases which the elderly people develop and struggle with. It becomes extremely challenging for them to overcome or survive such diseases. Thus, it is essential to have a serious discussion with senior citizens on these issues.
To pursue geriatric nursing, one should have unconditional love towards the elderly. It is necessary to understand that as adults age they become sick, feeble and frail. Old age is a sensitive phase when the adults require attention and care to live a healthy life without difficulties. Since age progresses, various medical issues like blood pressure, diabetes, heart failures, arthritis, as well as kidney infections can occur.
They cannot take care of their own in such conditions and overcome the severe changes that occur with aging. Thus, it is essential to provide them proper attentive care in their needs.
It is the responsibility of the geriatric nurse to assist the senior citizens and provide them special care.
One of the most common challenges of geriatric patients is UTI or Urinary Tract problems. It is very common among elderly patients. There are a number of conditions like benign prostatic hyperplasia, prostatitis and urethral strictures that lead to bacterial infections.
Elderly people need intense care as UTI can be quiet life-threatening. Severe cases of UTI’s can cause dementia. Thus, students of geriatric nursing are given training and proper lessons.
Let’s have a look at some tips to treat senior citizens with UTI’s:
These are some of the steps taken by the geriatric nurses to revive the elderly people out of UTI’s.
One of the most common issues of elderly age is diabetes. Most elderly patients suffer from diabetes mellitus, and approximately 25% develop injuries like foot ulcers during their lifetime. It is the responsibility of the geriatric nurses to treat diabetic patients who come to primary care with deep wounds or injuries.
These are some of the steps taken by the geriatric nurses to heal the wounds of diabetic patients.
Life can become quite challenging for aging people. Along with several physical changes like wrinkles and joint pains, they begin to suffer from numerous life-threatening or life-altering diseases. As soon as they hear about negative health information, they began to undergo stress, disappointments, and anxiety.
Geriatric nurses are trained to deal with such situations with care. They are trained to provide negative health information very carefully to the senior citizens and encourage them to fight the situations successfully.
Geriatric nursing can be one of the interesting courses if you have a visionary for older people. Learn the fundamentals, be trained, and look after elderly people who need attention and care.
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