The Role of the Nurses Caring for the Elderly

 

Nursing is concerned with assessing, planning and implementing nursing care for the elderly. That is, it works to offer the best care with high quality of service to this sector of the population and its immediate surroundings. What are its goals? What functions does it perform? Where do geriatric nurses work? In this article, Mark Berger Villa Healthcare CEO is going to answer these questions and explain the basic nursing care functions.

With 13% of the population currently at least 65 years old, and with 20% of the population expected to be at least 65 years old by 2030, providing care to older adults is now the health care systems' “core business” . Over the past 20 years, there has been shift in how nursing practice, education, and research are addressing the emerging health care needs of an aging society.

Nurses who care for older adults need to have basic geriatric competencies as a way to assure that older adults experience appropriate nursing care. Virtually all nurses in the course of their careers care for older adults: providing preventive and wellness programs; helping patients manage multiple chronic conditions and deal with increased mental and physical frailty; and facilitating a peaceful death. It is, therefore, imperative that these nurses have basic competence to deliver care to older adults. In addition to caring for their health needs, they also perform a range of other duties. Bellow, Mark Berger Villa Healthcare lists some of them.

Provide Support

An important role that nurses play is to support family members or anyone else close to the elderly. In this way, the older adult's environment is informed about their situation. This way they will know how to act at home in case of an emergency situation.

Do Research

The specialists are constantly evolving to improve their care and thus be able to adapt to the needs of this population. Although many people believe that this work is only based on drawing blood or taking blood pressure, Mark Berger Villa Healthcare explains that is not true, since nurses also study the behavior of their patients in order to understand and help them in the best possible way.

Special care for a healthy elderly

Healthy older adults also need certain special care to take care of their health and prevent them from suffering from any complications. To achieve this, the nurse in charge must perform the following care:

Feeding

Diet in the elderly is a very important factor for them to maintain good health and carry out their daily activities. Therefore, the nurse must apply a healthy and balanced diet that provides the vitamins and nutrients necessary to meet the objectives. Among the different foods to include are white meat, fish, fruits, olive oil, vegetables and legumes. Healthcare executive Mark Berger from Villa Healthcare generally recommends that older adults eat their last meal of the day very early in the evening. This way they will have time to digest and sleep peacefully without affecting their sleep time.

Hygiene

A deep cleaning should be done on the skin of the elderly on a daily basis. In addition, it is also important to hydrate it so it does not get irritated. In order to properly clean the elderly, the nurse must clean each body area in a specific order. This order indicates that you should start with the neck first and then proceed with the trunk, arms, armpits, legs, back, feet, genitals and perianal region.

At the same time that cleaning is being carried out, it is essential to dry each part with a clean towel and without rubbing. This is done to prevent the person from feeling cold and to prevent the appearance of certain infections that can develop from humidity. Regarding hydration, the specialist should choose a group of soft creams that hydrate the skin and do not cause any damage.

Hours of sleep

Seniors find it a bit more difficult to sleep properly. That is why most elderly people tend to have less energy during the day. To avoid this, it is essential that the assistant in charge takes care of some of your habits. For example, you need to make sure that you get up and go to bed at the same time each day. In addition, you should avoid going to bed right after having dinner or drinking coffee or tea.