Throughout my healthcare career working in clinical settings and as a CNA I have had many encounters with working with older adult patients. What I have learned so far is that these patients need to have adjusted patient centered care plans based on their clinical presentation. Older adult patients may be presented to the hospital for many different reasons and each of them requires their own specific care. It is important to be more patient with the older adult population because they may require more time to complete tasks based on their clinical manifestations. I have also learned that older adult patients really enjoy reflecting on their lives and I found that it is very therapeutic for them to have someone to talk to.
From the completion of this course, I have learned many things about how to provide therapeutic care for the older adult population. There are many changes that older adult patients face, and it is important to accommodate care for their specific needs. From learning about many of these disease processes that older adult patients may experience such as Alzheimer’s, Delirium, and Macular degeneration, it has changed my point of view on how to meet their specific needs. Before learning about these disease processes, I always thought that they would receive the same care as any other older adult population. Now I am more aware that each patient requires different care based on their own disease process. This information that I have learned from this class will be very useful to me because I plan to work in an Intensive care unit and there is a high percentage of older adults that are admitted to that unit. I can see myself providing intervention such as reorientation and methods to prevent delirium in older adult patients. Also approaching patients from their side if they may have macular degeneration to make sure that I am in their sight and I do not scare them. Older adult patients are also exposed to elder abuse so I will use the knowledge that I have learned from this class to monitor and identify any signs of potential abuse or neglect they may be experiencing. These signs may include bruising, abrasions or lacerations and if I do suspect that the patient is experiencing abuse or neglect it is my role as a future nurse to make sure I report this.
One take-a-way that I have gained from this course that will change my thinking about changes that I can make in my own life is to continue to make sure that I am exercising and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. What I have learned in this class is that maintaining a healthy lifestyle will allow my body and mind to avoid certain disease processes later in life such as osteoporosis, arthritis and even dementia or Alzheimer’s.
