Life can be difficult, especially when it comes to feeling great every day. If you are feeling abnormal, your first instinct might be to visit a doctor—that’s a good thought! Everyone deserves quality healthcare. Unfortunately, not all healthcare is created equal. It is especially true in elder care, where complex complications can make treating health issues more difficult.
According to Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE), roughly 20% of all hospital admissions are older adults. It makes them the largest consumer group of hospital care and, therefore, should receive significant consideration when rules and regulations are established and revised over the course of a healthcare organization’s life. And because the elderly population requires special consideration for effective and appropriate care, this attention must be frequent and productive.
The good news is that nurses are on the frontlines of the healthcare industry, figuring out what works and what not when it comes to quality and effective elder care. Whether you have a loved one in need of help or are interested in what you can do to revolutionize the healthcare industry, read on to have a closer look at how nurses improve care for the elderly population in the United States.
What are nurses responsible for in elder care?
If you’re not sure what nurses can do for the elderly, you are not alone. It tends to be an area of healthcare that few people think about until it impacts them personally. So unless you have a loved one in need of quality care or need care for yourself, chances are good that you have not spent much time considering nursing duties. The answer to the question can be a bit complex, too, as nurses throughout the healthcare system often have different roles and responsibilities.
Depending on their specialty and where they work, nurses play critical roles in caring for the elderly population. This is true of nurses working at a hospital, a long-term care facility, or a doctor’s office. Professionals in all three locales are often the first line of defense against potential health declines, including cognitive reduction. They are responsible for taking vitals and performing routine examinations while looking out for common issues. Beyond this, nursing responsibilities differ significantly.
Nurses in hospitals often care for patients with serious health issues. It includes things like advanced dementia, cancer, and other health issues such as strokes. These nurses focus mainly on acute care rather than rehabilitation, with the ultimate goal being to get patients as healthy as possible as quickly as possible so that they can return to their lives. In doctor’s offices, nurses are more focused on addressing common issues and providing tips to maintain good health or improve poor health. Patients with predictable health concerns often work more closely with their nurse than their doctor, depending on time commitments and how many patients the doctor must see every day.
In long-term care facilities, particularly those designed to meet the needs of patients with dementia and who are recovering from strokes, the role of nurses is slightly different. Nurses in these locations are still usually responsible for ensuring that patients are physically healthy, but they also take on responsibilities similar to those adopted by occupational therapists. That is not to say that they replace these professionals; they work alongside them to offer patients long-term health improvements. This collaboration is a big difference between nurses at care facilities compared to those at hospitals or small doctor’s offices. Nurses must be able to interact with their patient care teams and make decisions in conjunction with them.
What impacts the field of nursing for the elderly currently?
While today’s nurses are more committed than ever to providing their patients with the detailed care they deserve, the field faces a few challenges. One of the biggest of these goes hand-in-hand with the increasing need for effective elder care. Many of today’s medical professionals are baby boomers meaning they are either close to the age of retirement or have already begun the process. As a result, experienced nurses are leaving the field every day. They then enter the system as patients and require their own competent medical professionals to care for them.
As a result, the demand for nurses has increased significantly over the past few years and is only poised to continue in the near future. That makes nursing an excellent choice for a career, as an aside, especially as many schools are innovating their education programs to prepare nurses to provide excellent care from day one. Spring Arbor University is one such reputable educational provider. They have created a highly effective program proven to turn out nurses ready to take on the health challenges faced by today’s population, including elder care.
With all of the above in mind, what can nurses expect to do as they help their elderly patients? Let’s take a closer look at what they will be doing to help improve care for older adults.
How do nurses make caring for the elderly more efficient and effective?
Now that we know what nurses do and some of the roles they play in their elderly patients’ health journeys, you might want to take a closer look at the specific areas where nurses are providing quality care. Here are some of the main ways that nursing professionals are steadily improving the care that older adults receive:
Prompt care
Nothing is worse than needing help and waiting for what seems like forever to receive it. If you are injured, worried, or need something specific, calling for the nurse and sitting there until they arrive can be maddening, especially if it takes longer than a few minutes. It is both frustrating and can also be a hazard to your health. Sometimes the symptoms you experience in the hospital are the precursor to something serious, and catching them before they advance is critical.
With an increased focus on elder care and more advanced elder treatment techniques, today’s nurses are improving elder care one patient at a time. By forming teams and understanding the needs of the elderly population inside and out, these professionals can respond to requests for help and anticipate potential issues before they arise. It, in turn, allows them to head off unpleasant problems before they become serious issues. Such specialized knowledge decreases the time nurses must spend with each patient, giving them more time to spend on serious issues.
Prompt care plays an important role in protecting and nurturing health, and today’s nurses are committed to providing their patients with fast, reliable help.
Detailed understanding
A decade or three ago, the healthcare system was a very different place for the elderly. Instead of listening to concerns and addressing them, many of the issues impacting elderly individuals were considered simply part of the aging process. Things such as decreased memory and limited mobility were considered a normal part of life. Patients struggling with them were often resigned to their fate and never had the opportunity to improve.
Today, elderly patients can interact with nurses who are much more well-versed in the health problems older adults experience. Not only that, but they actively work to improve the long-term health of their patients, regardless of age. If something is causing low mobility, these professionals want to sort it out so that patients can return to living full and happy lives.
By offering patients quality care with attention to detail, nurses are able to help their patients maintain their mobility and mental acuity for much longer. Patients, as well as their loved ones, benefit from this dedication.
What can I do to help?
If you’re interested in making a difference and helping elderly patients thrive, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll explore the steps you can take to make a serious difference below.
Become a nurse
It might sound like an obvious response, but the best thing you can do to help elderly patients in your community is to become a nurse. That means selecting the right school for your undergraduate needs and graduate work if you decide to continue your education. Do some research into your options before deciding where to study. Don’t be afraid to reach out to universities for more information about their degrees and their history of graduating working professionals.
Once you’ve picked the right school, you’ll need to complete your degree requirements. It can be challenging, especially in medical programs that are notoriously complicated, but you should be able to consult with a counselor or a professor to help you through. Once you’ve earned your degree, there are a few additional steps to consider.
Make elder care your specialty
When they think about nursing, most people envision a professional in scrubs taking care of patients in a hospital. While this is not inaccurate, the truth is that the field is not nearly uniform. There are many paths you can take in nursing. You are limited only by your ambition. If you are interested in caring for the elderly, make that your specialty. Talk to your professors about your ultimate goals and ask for their advice as you progress through the program.
Many students find graduate school the best option as they carve out a niche. While you don’t have to complete a graduate degree to work with older patients, it is a good idea to set yourself apart by building up your schooling and knowledge base even further. If you do decide to continue your education beyond undergraduate work, the good news is that many programs allow you to select your specialty and take classes designed with it in mind. You can actively improve the skills that you need to thrive in your element, in other words, rather than the broader skills that hospital and emergency nurses need to develop.
Find the right job
Once you have completed your degree(s) of choice, you will need to pick the right job. Because the need for nurses is so high right now, you will likely have a choice between a few different jobs. The best thing you can do is remember your ultimate goal as you sift through possibilities. One job offer might offer a better salary than others, but does it allow you to pursue your passion and work directly with the elderly?
After you have selected the right job, congratulations! You’re all finished and ready to begin working in elder care. For more information about the field as well as the requirements to become an elder care nurse, make some time to conduct your own research. Keep the points above in mind as you sift through sources, and you’ll be ready to start work in no time.
