Gerontological nursing
Gerontological nursing is the specialty of nursing pertaining to older adults. Gerontological nurses work in collaboration with older adults, their families, and communities to support healthy aging, maximum functioning, and quality of life. The term gerontological nursing, which replaced the term geriatric nursing in the 1970s, is seen as being more consistent with the specialty's broader focus on health and wellness, in addition to illness.
Gerontological nursing is important to meet the health needs of an aging population. Due to longer life expectancy and declining fertility rates, the proportion of the population that is considered old is increasing. Between 2000 and 2050, the number of people in the world who are over age 60 is predicted increase from 605 million to 2 billion. The proportion of older adults is already high and continuing to increase in more developed countries. In 2010, seniors made up 13% and 23% of the populations of the US and Japan, respectively. By 2050, these proportions will increase to 21% and 36%.
Scope
Gerontology nursing is a unique field in nursing which requires nurses to focus their care on older population. This population tend to have more comorbidities such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart conditions, etc. This field requires complex care to fulfill their needs. Nurses are to be mindful of their long history for individualized care. Nurses use evidence based practice in their care to educate and promote well-being in gerontological population. Professional nursing involves the use of culturally competent care combined with scientific research to deliver clinical expertise.Geriatric nurses are expected to be skilled in patient care, treatment planning, education, mental health, and rehabilitation. They also take on many roles in the workplace. The main responsibility is as a caregiver. They can also be advocates, counselors, and educators for their patients.
Gerontological nursing draws on knowledge about complex factors that affect the health of older adults. Older adults are more likely than younger adults to have one or more chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, arthritis, hearing impairment, or a form of dementia such as Alzheimer's disease. As well, drug metabolism changes with aging, adding to the complexity of health needs.
There are many issues that arise as people age, which includes but are not limited to vision loss, hearing loss, dental issues, incontinence, and increased risk for falls. Gerontological nursing is complex and requires extensive interventions to keep the elderly safe. Nurses must be able to accommodate their patients for the vision loss, hearing loss, and dental issues. Elderly people with poor vision can be given reading materials with larger font, be provided with magnifying glasses, and brighter lighting. Interventions for hearing loss include finding a quiet place to talk among each other, speaking louder but not shouting, facing the person, speaking clearly, and providing gestures. Nursing may need to provide patients with dentures if teeth are missing to assist the patient in chewing their food. Incontinence care is crucial to preventing skin breakdown and skin infections such as candida albicans. Providing frequent incontinence care at least every two hours and skin barrier protection can decrease the chance of skin breakdown. Falls can cause fractures, hospitalizations, injuries, loss of independence, and possibly death. Many precautions can be implemented in preventing falls. Precautions include the elderly working with physical therapy to strengthen muscles and improve balance, wearing supportive shoes, making sure the environment is conducive to safety such as reducing clutter on the floor and the floor is dry, ensuring the room is well lit, and other interventions.
Gerontological nurses work in a variety of settings, including acute care hospitals, rehabilitation, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, retirement homes, community health agencies, and the patient's home.
The conditions of the geriatric patient's health determines what type of facility one should reside in. Assisted living facilities are also known as senior retirement homes, and they provide care services depending on health conditions. Skilled nursing, otherwise known as a nursing home, is a place where they can reside and get provided with 24/7 cares. Older adults have been referred to as "the core business of healthcare" by gerontological nursing experts. Population aging and the complexity of health care needs of some older adults means that older adults are more likely than younger people to use health care services. In many settings, the majority of patients are older adults. Thus, experts recommend that all nurses, not only those identified as gerontological nurses, need specialized knowledge about older adults. This position was endorsed by 55 US nursing specialty organizations.
Including, GAPNA which was founded in 1981, by a group of Gerontological Nurse Practitioners with the intention of offering the first continuing education conferences designed specifically to meet the needs of advanced practice nurses providing care for older adults. Currently, GAPNA represents the interests of all advanced practice nurses who work with older adults. These advance practice nurses are active in a variety of settings across the continuum including primary, acute, post-acute and long-term care. GAPNA an organization for advanced practice nurses seeking continuing education in gerontological care as well as networking and peer support from experienced clinicians.
What Attracts Nurses to Gerontological Care
In the United States, caring for the elderly is predicted to be the quickest developing employment area in health care. The demand for nurses is high in geriatrics, however the nurses who are interested in geriatrics are low. Studies have found that less than 1% of nurses are certified in geriatrics and less than 3% of advanced practice nurses are certified in geriatrics. A qualitative, descriptive study was conducted by Negad, it was found that to attract more nurse's higher compensation and health insurance should be offered. Nurses should have safe working conditions, onsite training and education, support from administration, flexible scheduling and sign on bonuses.The last few decades have brought in more interest in older people as their numbers in society grow. More people than ever before are surviving to their senior years which substantially makes the demand for more working nurses in gerontology. Viewing aging as a natural process also develops more positive attitudes towards working with older adults.
Gerontology study is becoming an important field in nursing and this is due to the increasing population of older adults. This increase requires an educated nursing staff who equipped to provide care to the needs of this growing aging population. There is a negative attitude towards old age and this bias can invoke negative feelings leading to great anxiety in many. Due to this prejudice, many fail to see the benefits and the opportunities that old age brings, focusing only on the challenges of old age. Gerontology educates people about old age and other issues that affect older adults. This field of study is important as it educates the public about the beauty of old age and it also encourages those advancing in age to embrace this change. Knowledge about the aging process not only helps people to understand the aging process but it also assists in helping older adults to achieve a better quality of life.
Implementation of geriatric education in nursing is crucial in increasing the number of nurses who pursue a specialty in geriatrics. Not only should nursing school programs focus on the care of the geriatric population, but also education should be available on-site at facilities caring for the elderly. Nurse Educators and Nurse Leaders are important roles that can be beneficial in the nursing home environment. Nurse leaders play a critical role in mediating between owners-managers and facility staff, and are also keenly aware of the need for geriatrics training among staff. Geriatric training for nurses and nursing assistants can increase quality of patient care and improve employee retention rates in the nursing home environment.
Gerontology vs Geriatrics
The terms Gerontology and Geriatrics are often used interchangeably, but there are differences between the two. Gerontology is the study of the social, cultural, psychological, cognitive, and biological aspects of ageing. Geriatrics, or geriatric medicine, is a specialty that focuses on health care of elderly people.Gerontological Nurses need to know how to care for illnesses that affect the aging, the other factors affect aging, and how these impact people.
History
Gerontological nurses walk a tight rope stretching across the centuries from the past to the present that introduced the notion that those who entered could survive and recover. The modern hospital is an 18th century innovation and those who entered were youths with acute injuries rather than chronic illnesses heavily seen in modern society. Beginning in the 1980s, nurse researchers have pursued answers on older adults about their well-being, and those suffering from serious chronic conditions.Bowers2020/> The NIH played a powerful role in the advancement of geriatric nursing science in the 1980s and 1990s, since then the NIH has funding nurse investigators who are transforming understanding of gerontological nursing. Although nurses published articles about care of older adults as early as 1904, the specialty of gerontological nursing emerged beginning in the 1950s, with the publication of the first gerontological nursing textbook. Pioneers in the field of gerontological nursing include Vera McIver, Doris Schwartz, Mary Opal Wolanin.A geriatric nursing specialty group was formed by the American Nurses Association in 1966, with the name changed to the Gerontological Nursing Division in 1976. In the US, the National Gerontological Nursing Association was founded in 1984 and in 1985 the Canadian Gerontological Nursing Association was founded. Standards of practice for gerontological nursing were published by the American Nurses Association in 1971. In the US, certification for geriatric nurse practitioners and clinical specialists were available in 1984.
The specialty has advanced significantly since the 1990s through large scale education and practice development initiatives funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation, including the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing at New York University. Significant efforts to enhance nursing education have been made in the last decade. In 2010, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing published the Recommended Baccalaureate Competences and Curricular Guidelines for the Nursing Care of Older Adults. Between 2007 and 2009 the Geriatric Nursing Education Consortium created teaching tools and trained educators in the US to improve gerontological content in nursing education.
A few initiatives that were taken to improve gerontological care is "The Nurse Competence in Aging" project which focused on providing grants and assistance to over 50 specialty nursing organizations and provided nurses with a free online gerontological nursing resource center. This resource center can be assessed using the computer, an iPAD, or iPhone applications. The resource center provides nurses with the opportunity to review evidenced based articles to learn about how to care for the older adult.
Another resource that was developed in 2009 was the Sigma Theta Tau's center for Nursing Excellence in Long-Term Care. The Geriatric Nursing Leadership Academy was sponsored by Sigma Theta and it provided products and services to support nurse's ability to grow professionally and become great leaders.