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Running head: AN AGING SOCIETY

An Aging Society
Danika Baker
Ferris State University

Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to bring attention to an increase in the geriatric population and how
this impacts nurses and nursing care. The geriatric population is growing at an exponential rate
due to technological and medical advancements. People are taking prophylactic health measures
earlier in their life and using screening tools to diagnose illnesses early in their progression.
There are currently not enough healthcare workers to keep up with this trend of an aging society.
With a society growing in age, it requires collaboration of multidisciplinary teams in order to
provide quality care to elderly patients. Education will be necessary by nursing staff to
understand age specific needs of the elderly population. There are standards by the American

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Nurses Association (ANA) and Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) competencies
that are relevant to the nursing care of an aging society.

An Aging Society
There is currently a global trend of an aging society. The geriatric population is on the
rise and the number of healthcare workers that will be needed to care for this population is not
rising at the same rate. The geriatric population has age specific needs that require education of
the nursing staff. Some theories that incorporate an aging society include Betty Neumans
Systems Model and Robert Havighursts Theory of Developmental Tasks for Late Life. Age
specific needs of the elderly include maintaining skin integrity, hydration, dignity, and certain
communication needs. Collaboration and communication of all multidisciplinary teams involved

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the clients care is crucial for an increase in patient satisfaction and positive patient outcomes.
Nurses reviewing clients medications will reduce the incidence of any unnecessary or duplicate
medications.
Theory Base
There are many theory concepts that demonstrate how this issue of an aging society can
be looked at from an interdisciplinary and collaborative perspective. The Betty Neuman Systems
Model states that each client is unique (Petiprin, 2016). Viewing clients in a holistic light is
especially important to remember when caring for our geriatric population because maintaining
dignity may be difficult to sustain during their hospital stay. An older person has value and
worth equal to that of any other person. It is important to see an older patient and where they are
in their context of life and the aging process because it is specific to each person. This provides
a patient with a sense of autonomy. Referring to a patient by their preferred name and
incorporating them in their plan of care, also gives them a sense of independence and self worth.
Robert Havighurts Theory of Developmental Tasks for Late Life, considers the different
adjustments that elderly people come across. This includes adjustments to a decrease in strength
and health, retirement and reduced income, loss of a spouse, establishing relationships with
peers, adapting to changes in social roles and establishing a satisfying living situation
(Havighurst, 1956). For a nurse caring for a client, it is important to think about the client in a
holistic manner and incorporate their entire situation with in their plan of care. The nurses
assessment of the client may expose that they are unable to care for themselves independently
and that they might not have any family members in the area to help. This would involve social
work to help create a more satisfying living arrangement for the client.
Assessment of the Healthcare Environment

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There are many reasons behind why we have an aging society. Advancements in
technology and medicine have been prolonging health and treating illnesses earlier. There are
screening tools and more diagnostic measures to catch diseases and treat them early on in their
progression. There have also been advancements in health promotion and prophylactic health
measures, which has resulted in a society that is increasing in age. It is common knowledge to
the public that eating right and exercising consistently is good for health. Generally, people also
know that dropping habits like excessive drinking and the importance of smoking cessation also
goes along the lines of increasing the awareness health promotion. The geriatric population has
many age specific needs that must be addressed by the nursing staff. Some of these include
attention to skin integrity, dehydration, and dementia. Educating nursing staff of these specific
needs will increase patient satisfaction of the geriatric population.
When it comes to skin integrity, it is important to recognize that the geriatric population
has thinner, more delicate skin. As nurses, there is a need to be cognizant of ways to prevent
skin break down. Skin integrity is one of the quality indicators used to evaluate nursing care of
patients in long-term care and rehabilitation settings (Smith, 2014, p. 54). In the hospital
setting, there are policies put into place to preserve skin integrity. Some of these policies include
turning a patient every two hours while in bed or in the chair and preforming hourly rounding to
offer the client an opportunity to use the restroom. Incontinence might also contribute to skin
break down. Using resources such as paper tapes and moisture barriers along with making sure
that clients are dry and cleaned up properly after eliminations will help to maintain skin integrity.
The geriatric population also has an increased risk for dehydration. This can lead to some
serious situations that can be prevented such as heat stroke. There are different reasons that the
elderly population chooses or forgets to drink enough fluids. Continence issues or trouble

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getting around, might lead to choosing to drink less water so that they will have to urinate less
frequently. This requires education to clients about why staying hydrated is so important to their
health. One intervention that the nurse can implement in the hospital setting to ensure that
hydration needs are being met include, starting intravenous fluids to rehydrate the client.
Another simple way that the nurse can help keep the geriatric population hydrated is offering
them a sip of water every time they enter the room. Incorporating the nursing tech with this
intervention will double the offerings of water to the client and overall increase water
consumption.
Another age specific consideration for the geriatric population is dementia. There are
communication barriers and multiple family dynamics to take into consideration when dealing
with clients with dementia. Often times, family members take on the role of caregiver for their
loved ones who are unable to care for themselves. Education to the family is critical in easing
the transition of how the dementia progresses and how they interact with their loved one.
Caregiver burn out is an important topic to discuss with family members caring for the client.
The nurse can also make sure that the family has resources and community support necessary to
care for their family member with dementia. Some other education topics for the family
members of a loved one with dementia include proper communication techniques and
information on aspiration and dysphagia as the disease progresses. It is important to teach the
family to not orient their family member with dementia, but to try to redirect their thoughts. A
dysphagia diet might have to be put into place for a client at a high risk for aspiration. This
might include thicken liquids and soft or pureed foods. One study published by the Journal of
the American Medical Directors Association concluded, the prevalence of dysphagia is high in
patients with dementia, especially in patients with moderate to severe cognitive impairment

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(Rosler et al., 2015). Aspiration can lead to aspiration-associated pneumonia, which can
progress to other complications including death.
Inference/Implications/Consequences
Increasing the awareness to nurses about the rise in the geriatric population will
encourage nurses specialize in the growing field of gerontology. Having a greater understanding
of the age specific needs to the geriatric population will increase overall patient satisfaction and
outcomes. This includes improvements in maintaining patient dignity.
An article found in Nursing Times stated that, all health care professionals need to feel
that they are able to challenge each other constructively when a patients right to privacy and
dignity is being compromised (Webster & Bryne, 2004, p. 38). A scenario which this would be
applied is the intrusion of an unnecessary healthcare provider into the room or advancing beyond
a privacy curtain before the client is fully clothed during an event such as bathing or finishing
using the restroom. As the clients advocate, it is the nurses role to make sure that that clients
dignity is preserved and nurses need to feel comfortable addressing or challenging other
healthcare providers in a professional manner when they feel a clients dignity has been
compromised.
Recommendations for Quality and Safety Improvements
The American Nurses Association (ANA) has developed the scope and standards that
apply to the practice of all professional nurses and serve as a template for nursing specialty
practice (2010). Standard nine integrates evidence and research findings into the nursing
practice (American Nurses Association, 2010, p.51). This holds the nurse responsible to keep up
on current evidenced based practices. Some floors have nurse educators to help keep the busy
staff up to date on the latest research. Standard 13 is collaboration (American Nurses

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Association, 2010, p.57). This implies that the nurse must collaborate with everyone involved in
the patients plan of care including family members, pharmacy, physicians, dietary, social work
and anyone else involved in the clients care. Standard 16 is environmental health (American
Nurses Association, 2010, p.61). Nurses are responsible to practice in an environmentally safe
and healthy manner. This includes using the five rights of medication administration, making
sure that the patient is in a safe environment and never putting a patient in a potentially harmful
situation.
Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) competencies target for nurses to use
their knowledge, skills and attitudes within their practice. The QSEN competencies that correlate
with the topic of an aging society include patient centered care, teamwork and collaboration and
safety (QSEN Institute, 2014). Patient centered care goes along the lines of treating every client
holistically and as unique individuals. Teamwork and collaboration integrate the communication
and unity between multidisciplinary teams involved with the patients care. This includes the
nurse reviewing patients medications and collaborating with physicians and the pharmacy to
reduce the incidence of any unnecessary or duplicate medications.
Conclusion
It is essential for nurses to work toward building an education and an understanding of
the specific needs of our elderly population. Respecting and valuing the care for the elderly
preserves dignity and the clients right to privacy. Simple tasks such as using a patients preferred
name, limiting when a patient is exposed and who they are exposed to and giving the patient a
say in their plan of care will encourage autonomy. Nurses should reflect on their own biases
with the elderly population in order to better their nursing practice.

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References

American Nurses Association. (ANA). (2010). Scope and Standards of Nursing Practice (2nd
ed.).
Havighurst, R. (1956, May). Research on the Developmental-Task Concept. The School Review,
64, 215-223. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1083328
Petiprin, A. (2016). Systems Theory. Retrieved from http://www.nursing-theory.org/theories-andmodels/neuman-systems-model.php
QSEN Institute. (2014). Competencies. Retrieved from http://qsen.org/competencies/
Rosler, A., Pfeil, S., Lessmann, H., Hoder, J., Befahr, A., & Rentelin Kruse, W. (2015, August).
Dysphagia in dementia: influence of dementia severity and food texture on the prevalence
of aspiration and latency to swallow in hospitalized geriatric patients . Journal of the
American Medical Directors Association, 16.
http://dx.doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2015.03.020
Smith, L. E. (2014, January). Future of healing: Creating a pressure ulcer prevention and
management program in a long-term care setting. Future of Healing, 54. Retrieved from
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.ferris.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=ada3a219e61c-4334-93b0-ac4952da61ef
%40sessionmgr4002&hid=4214&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d
%3d#AN=109754126&db=cin20
Webster, J., & Bryne, S. (2004, February 24). Strategies to enhance privacy and dignity in care of
older people. Nursing Times, 100, 38. Retrieved from www.nursingtimes.net

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