Out of the adults who live to age 65 or over, a significant percentage develop needs for long-term services and support. This is why nursing care for the elderly remains a sought-after service. The best thing about this care is that it’s provided by a professional who is trained to handle different medical conditions. You can rely on these professionals for holistic care that integrates a patient’s spiritual, psychological, nutritional, and social needs. But to attain the goals, you need to carefully consider elderly needs and select the professional that suits them.
Let’s begin with the basics. Nursing care of elderly patients needs a high level of awareness, compassion, patience, and sensitivity. After all, you need your assigned nurse to empathize with your loved senior adult and understand what they want at any given time. Your desire at this stage is to use a service that generates the best outcomes possible.
Notably, nursing care has its fair share of challenges; which profession doesn’t? However, the ability of the professional to mitigate them effectively can be the difference between success and failure.
Best Practices in Nursing Care of Elderly Patients
Providing elderly nursing care requires an all-inclusive approach, which includes some best practices indicated below:
Patient Assessment
Senior adults may be suffering from a myriad of medical conditions related to aging. Therefore, nurses assess them for chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes, hypertension), cognitive impairment, mobility issues, functional decline, pain and more.
Person-Centered Care
Each older adult may have unique needs, so the nursing care for elderly approach shouldn’t be that of one-size fits-all. Therefore, the health professional is guided by the patient assessment findings in formulating care plans that align with the needs of an individual.
Medication Management
One older adult may be taking a combination of different drugs to manage various health conditions. In this case, the nurse’s duty is to ensure they take the right medication at the indicated time while helping them effectively manage side effects.
Provide Emotional Support
A nurse is expected to communicate with the patient regularly, encouraging them when they are stressed to promote their mental well-being. Also, the professional offers a listening ear to understand what the senior adult is going through to help offer better care.
The Role of Nurses in Elderly Nursing Care
The professions in nursing care of the elderly performs various duties, including:
Monitoring the Patient
Your elderly senior needs day-to-day monitoring and checking. A nurse’s role in this instance is to apply their expertise in assessing the patient’s vital signs, managing complications such as wounds, administering prescription drugs, or assisting with simple activities such as mobility. If need be, these professionals may conduct necessary medical procedures. They also intervene when they notice significant changes in the patient’s health to prevent complications.
Advocacy and Educating the Family
The elderly opinions matter. Nurses play the crucial role of advocacy and ensure the patient’s rights are protected and their voices are heard. It is also their duty to let the family know about the conditions of their loved one and the care needed. As a family, you may rely on the professional to get assistance with administering medication, safety measures, dietary requirements, and more.
Daily Living Support and Mobility
Daily living doesn’t need to become a nightmare for your senior adult. Elderly care nursing maintains your patient’s independence and dignity by helping them with personal care activities like dressing, bathing, and grooming.What’s more? You may rely on the caregiver for invaluable support in addressing existing and potential mobility issues. Talk of assistance moving from one place to another with wheelchairs, walkers, or any other mobility aids, and these professionals will always be there for your elderly patient.
Challenges and Solutions in Nursing Care for Elderly
The needs of senior individuals can be complex sometimes, leading to numerous challenges, such as:
Polypharmacy
This is a common challenge in nursing care for elderly patients, given the increased risk of morbidity that comes with old age. As such, the patient is required to take multiple medications to manage various conditions, so the risk of adverse drug interactions or reactions is very real. Polypharmacy can be overcome by regularly checking the individual’s drug regimen and simplifying it if possible.
Burnout
With several seniors screaming for attention for different care needs simultaneously, it becomes easy for a caregiver to experience burnout. This can be solved by ensuring that the professional offering nursing care for elderly gets ample time to rest and recharge.
Physical demands
Nurse care for elderly is no mean task. As a professional, you may be required to regularly lift and transfer older adults to beds, chairs, or wheelchairs. In this case, the professional risks musculoskeletal injuries. This challenge can be addressed by using mechanical lifts to eliminate manual effort.
Communication Barriers
Vision and hearing impairments associated with old age can make it difficult for the nurse and the elderly person to communicate effectively, causing frustration and misunderstandings in nursing care for elderly people. Using assistive devices can mitigate communication barriers.
Enhancing Skills for Effective Nursing Care of the Elderly
Without a doubt, handling senior adults isn’t easy. Even harder when they can’t take care of themselves. Here is how to enhance nursing elderly care skills for better patient outcomes:
Learning Continuously
The care practices available today may not have existed years ago. Like any other healthcare field, geriatric nursing continues to evolve by the day. Therefore, it’s up to caregivers to remain updated on the current best practices. This can be achieved through enrolling in classes, attending workshops, seminars, etc.
Acquiring Clinical Experience
The professional can improve care of the elderly nursing skills by working with senior patients in different settings, such as rehabilitation centers, home health care, hospitals, etc. By being exposed to various environments, the caregiver can learn to navigate complex situations when they arise.
Mastering Nonverbal Communication
In any case, the nurse should learn to interpret body language like eye contact, facial expressions, and gestures from older adults. As a result, they can create successful relationships with patients, build trust, and improve care.
Cultivate Patience and Compassion
Senior patients may be grumpy and difficult at times due to fatigue, pain, or stress. Therefore, the nurse needs to practice patience so as to handle the patient gently. Being able to empathize with their situation also allows the nurse to express compassion and make the older adult feel better.
Personalizing Nursing Care for Elderly Individuals
By individualizing nursing care elderly people are able to experience improved clinical outcomes. Check below the approaches for personalizing care:
Evaluate the Older Adult’s Needs
A patient may present with various conditions, so it’s advisable to assess their physical, social, and mental needs thoroughly. The findings help the caregiver develop a care plan that suits them. For instance, care for a senior with a chronic disease may require regular checkups, while care for a socially active individual may integrate social and recreational activities.
Be Sensitive to the Patient’s Culture
Be sure to acknowledge and respect the older adult’s beliefs and cultural background. This means integrating part of their cultural practices into the care plan. An example is including religious items in the senior’s environment or providing opportunities for prayer, meditation, etc.
Personal and Financial Goals
In providing care of the elderly nursing professional should factor in the individual’s personal and financial goals. It could be that the patient wants to attain more independence, effectively keep their sugar levels down, eat healthy, sleep better, minimize pension usage, preserve assets, etc. Whatever the case, working to meet these needs can help improve the quality of the patient’s care.
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