The Old Adult Nursing - Essay Example

FAMILY HEALTH CARE: OLDER ADULT NURSING. The essay is about coordinated care and discharge planning on old adult nursing. It continuously discusses nurses’ role in planning a coordinated approach to client centered discharge planning. It gives directives of a well coordinated care to a 78 year old man who fell and broke his hip. The man later had a hip replacement. It also discusses home and community care services offered by Australian government that can help the family of 78 year old have a coordinated care while the man is still at home. It also describes continuous home care services available to the man and his family. These services can help the family have a well coordinated care to the old man considering that he lives alone. The essay also describes discharge planning, how it works and how well it can be improved. It describes how discharge planning can be well arranged to the old man. Coordinated care is a well outlined strategy for giving care to elderly, mentally handicapped, physically handicapped, patients discharged from hospitals, infants, people with great health and care needs and those with illness that last for their entire life (Jamison, 2007). Its general objective is to improve health of these people. It is best implemented by nurses with experience in coordinated care. It involves home and community care and sometimes discharged planning. It ensures the elderly remain healthy and active in the community (Nay & Garret, 2009). Discharged planning is a strategy implemented after a patient is discharged from a hospital to a nursing home, his or her own home or to a rehabilitation center (Miller, 2008). It can be planned prior to admission or just before discharge depending on whether the admission was planned or unplanned (Keaking, 2006). A planned admission may occur in case of a surgery. Unplanned admission occurs after an accident or sudden illness. Patients are normally weak after being discharged from a hospital and thus a well planned discharge should be put in place. Discharge planning is normally done by a nurse or an experienced social worker (Minichiello, 2005). The condition of the patient after discharge determines the amount of care needed (Redfern & Ross, 2006). According to how the nurse or the social work has planned the discharge, he/she decides what the patient would need. A good discharge planning reduces chances of readmission, makes sure medical prescriptions are administered as required and aids in recovery process (Jamison, 2007). Old people always need a good discharge planning because they continuously require health services after discharge and may easily develop complications afterwards. Admission of the 78 year old after the accident is unplanned. Thus burden of care is imposed on his family. Since the man is old and lives alone, he needs constant care. Thus the family needs a well coordinated care to help him. After the accident, the man cannot fully participate in community issues. He will thus mostly depend on his family for care. The family’s objectives will be to keep the man comfortable after discharge while they continue with their occupation. The well planned discharge will also aid quick recovery of the man and also reduce chances of readmission. Another family objective is to ensure adequate care is given to him at low cost to reduce the burden. If the family’s discharge goals are achieved, the man will be able to participate in community matters. Prior to discharge the family should have a good discharge plan developed by a nurse or another professional in health care. The family should make follow-up appointments with the doctors so that it can closely monitor the man’s condition. To improve discharged planning, there should be effective communication between the care giver and the doctor in order to enhance follow up procedure (Miller, 2008). Also the care giver assigned to the old man should be adequately trained to offer care service. There should also be effective communication between the hospitals and community based organizations that may be used to offer care to the man after discharge. Continuous care at home and community are services given by community and government organizations to people at their own homes (Redfern & Ross, 2006). These reduce the cost and burden of care to the families. In Australia, these services are provided to the community by the government mostly on non profit basis. They are most appropriate to old people, lonely and those who need physical and mental services. This is because they continuously require care. Community organizations should work hand on hand with nurses, and other medical professionals. They help in giving out effective care and handling of emergencies in case of one. They also help in prescriptions of medicines, psychological care, personal and household care. Services available in continuous care at home include; Home maker services (meals on wheels) – they are services that help the elderly and those who need great care to maintain their homes (Keaking, 2006). They help in housekeeping service, preparation of meals, shopping of basic necessities, ensuring good personal and house hold care. In Home Care – they give both medical related and medical unrelated services (Keaking, 2006).Like home maker services, medical unrelated services include, preparation of meals, shopping of basic necessities, and housekeeping services. Medical related services include administration of medication, therapies, emotional support, nursing and nutritional services. Transportation Services – they are transport services given to the people with disabilities, old people and those who are bedridden. Day services - they are services given to the elderly severally in a week where they are taken to a good setting outside their normal ones (Keaking, 2006). They spend their daytime hours and have an opportunity to socialize with others. Nutritional meals may also be provided in these settings. To further improve the discharge plan by the family of the 78 year old, it should assign the old man to continuous care services at home. This would greatly reduce burden of care to the family. In home services would also give emotional care since the man lives alone. A good continuous care at home would make him have a comfortable stay at home and participate in community issues. The family can also asses the community help services offered to the communities and old people at their homes by the government. These services are provided by various organizations in Australia. They greatly aid in reducing cost of coordinated care. The services would also reduce the burden imposed by the old man to the family so that the family members can comfortably progress with their occupations. These services include; The Aged Care Home Finder – it is an organization that helps people to find aged care home in Australia according to people’s specifications (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), 2008). The organization keeps a record of aged care homes and specific services they offer. This helps those in need of an aged care home to easily locate one. Mostly the organizations are government funded. Australian Home Care – it is a non profit making organization based in Victoria and New South Wales. It gives special care and other health services to people in their homes (Health System Performance, 2007). It provides care according to individual specifications. It also provides night care services. Community Aged Care Packages – it ensures older people receive care in their homes instead of another center (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), 2008). They are well planned packages that aims at ensuring older people receive care within their homes. These services are funded by the Australian Government. Services provided are social care, transport services, household service help, meal preparation, individualized care and nursing. For a person to receive a package, he/she is first assessed by Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT). The person is given the package if he/she meets the minimum level care. A package is then designed to meet one’s needs according to the ACAT assessment report. To provide the best care to the elderly, services are given as per assessors needs, the older people are made aware of the care they are receiving, and people receiving the package are actively involved in designing a package that meets their needs Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) – they assist older people determine the best care that will appropriately suite their needs. It provides suitable information about care needed depending on individuals needs. This information is used by Home and Community Care (HACC), Community Aged Care Packages (CACP) and Extended Aged Care at Home (EACH) in providing health care services (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), 2008). The information is also suitable to an individual when deciding care services needed, package that best suites one’s needs or care needed in one’s residence. During the assessment procedure, the person who needs care is actively involved in deciding the best set of care and available care services in the area (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), 2008). Aged Care Information – this is information provided by Department of Health and Aging in Australia. It contains contacts and available services in helping people handle ageing issues. (Health System Performance, 2007) It also has contacts that are related with elderly topics. The information is important to elderly, their families and care givers and other people interested in knowing government services and health programs for older people. Extended Aged Care at Home packages – it was a program started in Australia to purposely to determine possibility of providing care in people’s residence and maintain the same standard as a high care residential facility (Health System Performance, 2007). The packages are based on individuals needs and are designed to ensure older people remain in their residence while receiving care. The program is government funded. Services incorporated in the package include social care, transport services, household service help, specialized care from professionals and registered nurses. Home and Community Care Program (HACC) – it is a program that provides care services to older people, people with disabilities and their caregivers (Health System Performance, 2007). It is normally a joint program between Australian government and other stakeholders. Services provided by HACC include house help, individualized care, and specialized care from professional and specialized nurses. It provides cheap, easily accessible and quality services in the community to older people, disabled and their care givers. Its services ensure that those who benefit from the program remain independent and reduce any chances of readmissions. Old people occupy most hospital beds. They normally need a constant care and if left unchecked, it can be costly. Thus a good coordinate care should always be implemented in such cases. The coordinate care offered to old people should aim at keeping cost of care at minimum while offering the best care. Professionals like nurses and doctors should always be involved in co ordinate care. It should incorporate a good discharge planning and constant asses to the community services offered by the government. REFERENCES. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2008). Australia’s health. Canberra: AIHW. From http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/aus/ah08/ah08.pdf Health System Performance. (2007). Discharge Planning: Responsive Standards. NSW Dept. of Health Policy Directives on Discharge Planning. From http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/policies/pd/2007/pdf/PD2007_092.pdf. Jamison, J. (2007). Healthcare for an ageing population. Sydney: Churchill Livingstone. Keaking, S. (2006). Discharge planning for the elderly: A guide for nurses, 18(2), 91. Miller, C. (2008). Nursing for wellness in older adults (5th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott. Minichiello,V. (2005). Contemporary issues in gerontology: Promoting positive ageing. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin. Nay, R., & Garrett, S. (2009). Older people: Issues and innovations in care (3rd ed.). Sydney: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier. Redfern, S., & Ross, F. (Eds.). (2006). Nursing older people (4th ed.). London: Elsevier. Read More