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A guide to Geriatric Nursing

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.

Geriatric Nursing: Definition

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.

Fundamentals of Geriatric Nursing

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.

Here are some fundamentals that are included in geriatric nursing programs:

Gerontology basics.
Geriatric management care.
Communications included in geriatric care.
Geriatric laws
Dementia care
Psychological and physiological aspects of aging adults.
Laws of the elderly and disabled.

Characteristics of the crisis of later maturity and coordinating care of the elderly patients

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:

Cognitive characteristics- This includes the intellectual level of the elderly persons, problem-solving ability, creativity, reaction time, and memory.
Emotional characteristics- It reflects on the psychological features.
Social characteristics- A lesson on how the factors of the social environment affect the old.
Physical characteristics- As age increases, certain physical features like vision and hearing starts to decrease. This lesson incorporates how an elderly suffers a crisis and how geriatric nurses should adhere to their needs.

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.

A list of health topics to discuss with the elderly

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:

Cardiovascular diseases
Cognitive health situations
Mental health
External and Internal physical injuries
Malnutrition
Sensory Impairments
Cancer
Alzheimer’s
Smoking-related health issue
Diabetes
Arthritis
Strokes
Delirium

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.

Why is it necessary to take special care of the senior citizens?

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.

Tips for treating elderly people with urinary problems

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:

Antibiotics like amoxicillin should be given as soon as UTI is detected.
Strong antibiotics are to be given depending upon the patient’s condition.
Drink plenty of fluids.
Drink cranberry juice or take tablets.
Since severe UTI can cause dementia, behavioural changes should be noticed.
Diabetic patients or those who have kidney stones should be given special attention.
Women who have gone through menopause should be provided urgent care.

These are some of the steps taken by the geriatric nurses to revive the elderly people out of UTI’s.

How to treat the injuries of a diabetic elderly patient?

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.

In the words of the nurses, they treat the injuries in the following ways:

The wound is first assessed. Diabetic wounds can be of three types like neuropathic, ischemic and neuroischemic. The type is identified and given proper treatment.
A process of tissue debridement is followed.
Infections are the top issues of diabetic patients. Thus, it is necessary to do the necessary infection controls.
Optimal dressing for a diabetic wound is essential to successfully heal the wound and control the moisture.

These are some of the steps taken by the geriatric nurses to heal the wounds of diabetic patients.

How senior citizens react to negative health information?

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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