The Effect Of Chronic Illness On The Elderly

Nurse Practitioners (NPs) play a key role in long term health care by ensuring provision of holistic healthcare services particularly in remote areas and in those areas that have few physicians. Currently, there is a concern where there is a shortage of physicians in nursing homes and in other critical health care services questioning the care being provided (Colwill, Cultice, & Kruse, 2008). Due to population growth,

large number of newly insured patients resulting from healthcare legislation, an increased emphasis on preventive care, and the large, aging baby-boom population. As baby boomers age, they will experience ailments and complex conditions that require medical care. CRNAs will be needed to keep these patients healthy and to treat the growing number of patients with chronic and acute conditions. Overall, job opportunities for advanced practice registered nurses are likely to be excellent.

The Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner competencies entail a combination of acute gerontology and primary care. In order to gain entry into this field, there is need to meet the requirements for an adult-gerontology care nurse practitioner. The competencies of this field are based on the APRN along with NP core competencies. Their scope of practice is based on patient healthcare needs. Their healthcare obligations tend to reflect the work of a national Expert Panel that entails a host of adults related to gerontology and acute care (Geetter, et al., 2013).

deficiencies that appears in the United States has placed the spotlight on the advanced practice nurses, involving nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) to make up for the insufficiency physicians (Kleinpell, Ward, Kelso, Mollenkopf, & Houghton, 2015). With the NPs and PAs coming into the for forth to provide patients with high-quality healthcare at reduce costs. The PAs and NPs continue to inform patients on new medical advancement and treatment pertaining the patients? health conditions to ensure patients continue up-to-date knowledge and to encourage

The topics discussed in chapters six through ten focused on injuries, health risks, prevention of health conditions, pain, specific health conditions such as obesity, and the effects of chronic illnesses. These chapters caused me to reflect on both the physical and psychological effects that various health conditions can have on people. Our mindset can have a direct effect on how we cope with illnesses as well as increase or decrease our risk for developing new conditions. Proper education about health risks and conditions that are becoming more prevalent throughout society can help in the development of new treatment methods and ways to avoid the onset of certain illnesses.

In a report posted in AARP titled “Leading Change, Advancing Health,” the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Institute of Medicine outlined ways that nurses are solving many challenges in health care and hold a key role in accessing health care for many patients and play a significant role in transforming the future of health care (AARP, 2012). The Nurse Practitioner is a Registered Nurse who have received their master’s degree or PhD in nursing and completed a course to a specialized medical field and is capable of providing patient care and writing prescriptions (AARP, 2012). With the boom in the aging population the nurse practitioner has a key role for adults over 50, the need for medical care will increase and the wait to see a doctor will also increase. The Nurse Practitioners Role in patient care will help provide continuity of care with chronic patients. In an article post on AARP website entitled “The Doctor Can’t See You Now-But the Nurse Can” states the importance of nurses in field of advance practice. In poor and underserved rural and urban areas, nurse practitioners represent the only health care available. Nurse practitioners play a vital role in the health of adults over 50 not

To the Public/Clients: Nursing is a profession that is responsible to patients and also to public. It is the right of the society to expect the best possible quality of care. So it is essential for nurses to stay abreast of current best practices. Nurses should have the knowledge of updated systems and modern equipments. Attending seminars and conferences, completing required competency tests, reading related books and articles, and complying with the required certifications are some of the ways to be proficient with the changes taking place in nursing field. Nurses should be aware of consumer’s increased level of knowledge and the increased accessibility to information from various sources (Hood, 2010, p. 307-308). Nurses are expected to be exercising reasonable judgment and deliver reasonable care to patients. Nurses have the obligation to act in the best interest of the patient. For example, recently one of my patients expressed her wish to change her code status. She stated that she is very tired because of her critical illness. She wants to go home to die peacefully. She told me that since her family is not listening to her wish she is frustrated. I informed her about hospice care at home and she requested to get more information from them. As a responsible nurse, I spoke with the physician and got the order for hospice evaluation for that patient. Finally, she was able to go home under hospice care. This shows the

Although the largest profession in the health care industry is nursing, a larger number of people are getting older and living longer. This means that more people will need nursing care, whether it’s in a hospital, a long-term care facility or at home. It is projected that long-term care facilities will need 66% more RNs by 2020 (Addressing the Nursing). The increase in life expectancy has amplified the complexity of health care because more people are living with chronic conditions. The American Nurses Association reported that “a large cross-sectional study of over 1,000,000 adults revealed that 82% had one or more chronic conditions” and we are seeing an increase of those age 65 and older living with multiple chronic conditions (Mion). Now, more than ever, there is a high demand for the best delivery of medical care.

Education for the providers and patients both need to be more accessible. Providers education for screening, and implementation of a policy to set better guidelines for screening, needs to be created so that patients at risk can be educated soon rather than later on lifestyle changes. The education for patients needs to be more extensive in the office and also in the community where individuals are more likely to ask questions and be in an environment where they are more comfortable.

After spending an afternoon interviewing my elderly father-in-law, I gained insight into how he perceives the aging process and the impact on the quality of his life. First, and foremost he viewed aging in a very positive and healthy manner. He believes that a positive attitude assists in accepting physical and psychosocial changes and enjoyed the fact that he and his wife are both physically fit and cognitively alert. He felt confident that advances made in health care and the quality of their lives would continue to be empowering. He enjoys the benefits of being a senior citizen including discounted travel, free education, and other incentives marketed towards seniors. He expressed a sense of well-being with respect to the numerous

The role that nurse practitioner (NP) plays within the increasing complex health care system is a constant changing role with the Consensus Model and the introduction of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The scope of the nurse practitioner (NP) includes the care of the young, the old, the sick and the well. The educational needs of a nurse practitioner vary greatly from that of a Registered Nurse (RN), in the amount of education as well as the focus of the education. NPs provide coordinated primary care with the use of comprehensive health histories and physical examinations, diagnosing and treating acute and chronic illnesses, the management of medications and therapies, ordering and interpreting tests results, and educating and

The role of providers is to deliver patient care using the latest technology, tests, treatments, and provide preventive care. Their role of direct care places them front and center for identifying and implementing changes to patient care practices. The patient’s role is to expect the best evidence based care delivered in a safe and compassionate manner. Patients and their families are encouraged to report on the quality of the care received. Positive change is in their input is extremely important for driving and implementing necessary changes. The payer’s role such as CMC, require providers to perform their work using evidence based practice and diagnostic planning to reach an accurate treatment plan. Payers want to lower costs by minimizing visits and tests. They also incent providers to maximize safety initiatives such as fall prevention by not paying for injuries resulting from incidence of in-hospital falls. Their role is to ensure requirements and standards are communicated and enforced with the nursing home setting. The Nursing home administrator role is to take the financial reins maintaining or lowering costs. The Administrator is also responsible for presenting improvements to the board to obtain funding for the project. In addition, the administrator is responsible for staff training for implementation

Individuals living in Long Term Care facilities are among the most vulnerable of populations during a disaster. Many lessons have been learned from devastations like Hurricane Katrina, Rita, and Wilma that occurred in 2005 in regards to the disaster preparedness levels of Long Term Care Facilities (LTC).

Also, research reveals that RN’s ageist perceptions and behaviors have a negative impact to level of safety and quality of the nursing care provided to an older patient. In a critical review conducted by Brown et al. (2011) in 25 studies, older patients are exposed to under or over treatment. Examples of these in the nursing context are (1) insertion of indwelling catheters to avoid the inconvenience, exertion or pain of toileting and (2) failure to perform basic bed repositioning that contributes to increased pain suffering and pose potential risk of infection and further injury to the older patient. Also, misconception on the recuperative abilities of the older patient causes the RN to lose the ability to impartially and accurately assess

Chronic disease and conditions are usually defined as those diseases which last for more than six months and which have a severe effect on the life of the individuals (Chronic Conditions and Injury, para.1). While chronic diseases can affect people of all ages and demographics, these types of diseases are very often found in the elderly. Chronic disease are also characterized by "…multiple risk factors, long latency periods, a prolonged course of illness and functional impairment or disability" (Key indicators of progress for chronic disease and associated determinants, 2011, p. 1). Chronic disease is also found to be more prevalent in the ageing demographic of most countries.