65 and order gero population

Please write a minimum of 170 words. Also provided references 4 in each
First Response
Week 2 Maju
Among the geriatric population who is 65 years older and active, some are very active and healthy whereas some are suffering from chronic health issues and require a lot of assistance. As I am working on a telemetry floor, most of our patients who are getting admitted to the floor have multiple comorbidities and are bedridden. Chronic health conditions like diabetes, COPD, and, congestive heart failure are causing patients to decline in their functions and need a lot of assistance including activities of daily living. According to (Sathyanarayana Rao, 2018) ” Maintaining an optimal nutritional status is important for the well-being of older people and for promoting independent living. However, despite this knowledge, malnutrition is a common and serious problem that contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality in this population group”. During this clinical rotation with primary care, I will be more focused on getting familiarized with the medications for treating chronic medical conditions and their side effects. Building a trusting relationship and making sure the knowledge of their illness is very important to focus on treating elderly populations. Most of the elderly population are living alone, so it is important to educate them thoroughly about their medications to prevent overdose or underdose. Building a trusting relationship with their physician will help them to prevent the use of polypharmacy. The interdisciplinary approach of educating and treating the elderly population helps to manage their illness. Close monitoring and follow-up is very important to make sure these patients are doing well and thereby preventing serious illness and getting hospitalized. Geriatric assessment should include not only their primary symptoms but also to their cognitive functions.
2 discussion Post
Discussion post
Amara
AM
What has your nursing experience been with people age 65 and older? What do you anticipate learning in the course regarding geriatric patients?
I have engaged many geriatric patients both in my clinical practice and clinical rotations. While some geriatric patients have no major health issues or chronic conditions, some patients in this age bracket have several comorbidities. Some of the items I have picked from this population include a strong commitment to their health. Unlike youth or young adults, geriatric individuals strictly follow directions including follow-up visits and compliance with medications. However, this is mainly determined by the kind of support and education provided during the clinical engagements. Punnapurath et al. (2021) established that educating geriatric patients about the disease and drugs improve their medication adherence. I have also noticed that geriatric patients like asking appropriate questions in a respectful way regarding their conditions. I enjoy working with this population.
Due to their age and multiple comorbidities, geriatric patients have unique unmet support needs. For instance, I have experienced some of them presenting with psychological issues, social deprivations, and mobility limitations. Despite these challenges, these patients are always motivated to maintain independence and cope with their illnesses. Abdi et al. (2019) identified several environmental factors that are interfering with these efforts. They include poor coordination of services and a lack of professional capacity to provide advice on self-care strategies. Based on this, I anticipate learning how to provide education and self-care strategies to geriatric patients during this course.
I believe that providing enhanced education to this population would not only promote independence but also reduce rehospitalizations as a result of falls or missed drugs among others. To promote quality of care and health status among the geriatric population, clinicians must employ several strategies that I anticipate learning. Some of these strategies include collaboration with other specialists, co-development of treatment plans, medication reconciliation (management of polypharmacy), and effective communication methods (Frank et al., 2018). These strategies and competencies would be resourceful both to my clinical practice and rotations.
References
Abdi, S., Spann, A., Borilovic, J., de Witte, L., & Hawley, M. (2019). Understanding the care and support needs of older people: A scoping review and categorization using the WHO international classification of functioning, disability and health framework (ICF). BMC Geriatrics, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-019-1189-9
Frank, C. C., Feldman, S., & Wyman, R. (2018). Caring for older patients in primary care: Wisdom and innovation from Canadian family physicians. Canadian Family Physician Medecin de Famille Canadien, 64(6), 416–418. https://doi.org/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5999256/
Punnapurath, S., Vijayakumar, P., Platty, P. L., Krishna, S., & Thomas, T. (2021). A study of medication compliance in geriatric patients with chronic illness. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 10(4), 1644–1648. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1302_20