“Elderly Care: Attitudes of Nurses”
NURSES ATTITUDE TOWARD THE ELDERLY The world is aging; however chronological age may have little relation to the reality of aging. When caring for this group of people nurses must consider culture, ethnic and racial diversities.
Elderly clients will expect that the nurse render culturally competent care and one major aim is to help promote independence and help client maintain or restore activities of daily living.
The age 65 becomes the boundary of old age. Why does the age group continue to grow, Erickson said longer life span, better medicine, better treatment and better diagnosis testing answers the question. Diversity is also increasing due to naturalization and immigration, a majority of older adult live in non-institutional setting; however a smaller number have lost the ability to care for them. Eventually aging leads to disability and dependence on others. Chronic problems can add an additional challenge. To assess older client check the strength, weakness and abilities when developing plan of care. Many of us know some older people and have grandparents. As nurses we should not be susceptible to miss or stereotype even though they may be slower or have trouble with vision, hearing and dexterity. We must take into account their positive attributes.
The older adult has a lot to share with years of experience. As nurses we need to assess our attitudes towards older adults, our aging, family, friends and clients. Our attitude comes from our experience with older adults, education, work and co-workers. When caring for the older adults we need to be aware of their wishes, and give them the opportunity to participate in their own care and treat them with dignity, nurses need to know and address ageism prevailing negative and stereotype attitude and check what really happens during the aging process.
Ageism refers to a systematic discrimination toward a group of people based on chronological age (Matteson & McConnell, 1988: 1). Ageism is "a
Elderly clients will expect that the nurse render culturally competent care and one major aim is to help promote independence and help client maintain or restore activities of daily living.
The age 65 becomes the boundary of old age. Why does the age group continue to grow, Erickson said longer life span, better medicine, better treatment and better diagnosis testing answers the question. Diversity is also increasing due to naturalization and immigration, a majority of older adult live in non-institutional setting; however a smaller number have lost the ability to care for them. Eventually aging leads to disability and dependence on others. Chronic problems can add an additional challenge. To assess older client check the strength, weakness and abilities when developing plan of care. Many of us know some older people and have grandparents. As nurses we should not be susceptible to miss or stereotype even though they may be slower or have trouble with vision, hearing and dexterity. We must take into account their positive attributes.
The older adult has a lot to share with years of experience. As nurses we need to assess our attitudes towards older adults, our aging, family, friends and clients. Our attitude comes from our experience with older adults, education, work and co-workers. When caring for the older adults we need to be aware of their wishes, and give them the opportunity to participate in their own care and treat them with dignity, nurses need to know and address ageism prevailing negative and stereotype attitude and check what really happens during the aging process.
Ageism refers to a systematic discrimination toward a group of people based on chronological age (Matteson & McConnell, 1988: 1). Ageism is "a