Older Adults Flashcards
What age does old age begin at?
65
Factors that increase the risk of incontinence
Age, diabetes, hysterectomy, stroke, obesity, menopause
What should you look for in a nursing home?
Medicaid/Medicare certified, feels like a house, good food, qualified stage and care, family visiting and presence is encouraged
What defines the quality of life for older adults?
Perception of well-being
What do you want to do first during initial nurse-patient encounter?
Quick head to toe and note signs of aging, their attention towards you, gait and mobility
Acute care
Hospital setting; pay attention to skin integrity, nutrition and hydrations, skin integrity, basic needs and comfort
Common complications in acute care
Delirium, physical limitations, incontinence, UTI, HAIs, falls
Nursing care for delirium
Encourage visitors, provide memory cues, orient them
Restorative care
Recovery from acute illness or support for a chronic condition; private home and LTC; regain or increase prior level of independence, ADLs, and IADLs
Health concerns for older age
Heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, stroke, smoking, alcohol abuse, nutrition, dental problems, exercise, falls, sensory impairment, pain, medicine use
Factors affecting nutrition
Tradition, meds, culture, preference, religion, situation—proximity to food, chronic illness—incontinence
Nutritional recommendations for older adults
Inc intake of D, B12, E, folate, fiber, calcium, increase fluid, dec Na, fat, sugar, and alcohol
Intrinsic risk factors for falls
History, fear, weakness, vision, hypotension, balance, med reactions, chronic conditions
Extrinsic factors increasing falls risk
Poor light, lack handrails, poor stairwell, grab bars, hazards, slippery, poor shoes
Is pain a normal part of aging?
NO
Polypharmacy and what to do about it
Use of multiple meds by the pt which can lead to interactions; need to perform a med reconciliation; treat non pharmacologically first
Illness indicators
AMS, falls, dehydration, Dec appetite, loss of function, dizzy, incontinent, NEW ONSET, lose physiologic and functional ability, fever, confusion, incontinence, anxious
Presentation of illness in the hospital
Confusion, chronic dehydration, infection
Presentation of illness in the nursing home
Under treatment of pain, decrease function, drug toxicity, new urinary or fecal incontinence
Presentation of illness in the ambulatory pt
Inc fatigue, Dec ability to do things, change in bowel habits, confusion and inc dyspnea, depression
Presentation of illness in home care
Investigate falls, loss of appetite (indicates late-stage heart disease), drug-drug interactions
Elder mistreatment
Intentional act or failure to act that causes or creates risk for harm to elderly
Validation therapy
Validate feelings and slight disorientation; can reminisce
Psychosocial tx
Body image interventions with loss of sensation; help with hygiene, touch, therapeutic communication
