Aged Care - Factors Affecting Nurses Perceptions of Elderly Patients, Measures in Change of Attitudes and Values towards Aging - Essay Example

Aged Care Name Institution Date Aged Care Introduction In health care system advanced age is considered as a likelihood of individuals to develop a variety of health related problems and issues. The health problems may manifest itself in terms of chronic diseases that will mandate for proper health care for the aged population. Nurses in this case are vested with the responsibility of offering health care to the aged population so as to effectively deal with health issues that are mainly related to the ageing process (Bluemel et.al. 2011).Many studies conducted have revealed the fact that many nurses possess a negative attitude towards the elderly and elderly health care provision. The negative attitude towards the elderly may be influenced by various factors such as personal beliefs, values, culture and experience. Therefore in this case ageist attitudes may either be positive or negative in nature and is mainly dependent on an individual’s tendency to stereotype other individuals or patients on the basis of their age. The essay therefore aims at discussing elderly health care in relation to attitudes and beliefs of nurses and caregivers in offering health care provision to the elderly (Arnold & Boggs 2013). Nurses’ Attitudes Toward Older Patients The quality of the provision of the health care services to the older generation is subjective to the attitudes of the nurses or the caregivers towards the elderly population. A caregivers’ or nurses’ positive attitude towards the elderly has been regarded as an influencing factor towards the health situation of the elderly patient (Miller, 2009). In this respect nurses who possess a positive attitude towards the elderly have been known to easily bond with the patient while assisting the elderly patient with respect. Thus the association between the positive nurse and the elderly patient is viewed as friendly and the nurse always ready to help the patient in dealing with their health problems successfully so as to improve their health status (Miller, 2009). However nurses who possess a negative attitude towards the elderly patients have been known to disregard the elderly and in many cases may engage in neglecting the elderly patient in the process of provision of health care services (Arnold & Boggs 2013).The nurses with negative attitude towards the elderly patients always prefer to deal with younger patients as opposed to the elderly. Therefore in the provision of health care services to the elderly the negative attitude nurses engage in many types of restrictions to the patients while at the same time disrespecting the patients in terms of their autonomy and dignity. Thus in most case the nurses engage in various type of discrimination against the elderly patients as the caregivers in the provision of health care services to the elderly (Bluemel et.al. 2011). Factors Affecting Nurses’ Perceptions of Elderly Patients There are many factors that are considered to influence the nurses’ attitudes and perceptions towards the elderly in the provision of health care services. Age, gender and education play an important role in influencing the nurses’ attitudes towards elderly care and provision of health care services (Miller, 2009). In many instances it has been argued that the younger nurses tend to have a negative perception or attitude towards the elderly and elderly care in general. This is in much case instigated by the experience of the nurses in caring for the elderly. Thus most young nurse perceive old age with negative attitudes and often consider elderly patients as being senile and smelly and hence the negative attitude affect the process of the provision of health care to the elderly (Naka et.al 2010). Nursing practice advocates for universal provision of health care services to the population and the elderly. In the elderly care most nurses contravene this practice in the sense that the elderly are discriminated upon due to the negative cultural beliefs or stereotypes of the nurses who are regarded as the care givers for the elderly. The elderly are therefore treated with a lot of disrespect in terms of their autonomy that in most cases result in neglect of health care provision to the elderly population or patients (Olofsson et. al. 2010). In most cases the attitudes towards ageing process is mainly influenced by the projected lifetime, economic situations, social anticipations and the available literature at the time. In most societies the elderly are considered as a burden and even neglected by their families in terms of offering them quality health care services. Thus the elderly lack the family support in terms of care provision and have no one to turn to. This is further influenced by the care giver or nurses’ attitude towards the elderly and the perception of the ageing population in terms of provision of quality health care (Siyang et.al. 2012). Aged Care Delirium is common among the elderly people and it is characterized by the disturbance of consciousness. In relation to the case study the elderly man in the emergency department may be suffering from delirium due to his confused nature. This disorder has a tendency of fluctuating at different times of the day and hence affecting the patients. This disorder may also result from the withdrawal from drugs and it may also result from a general medical condition. It is for this reason that the patients who have undergone cardiac surgery may be affected by the disorder (Henneman, Gawlinski & Giuliano 2012). Cardiac surgery is common among most of the elderly people due to various factors. The cardiac surgery is responsible for the increase in the incidences of delirium among the elderly (Elliott & Coventry 2012). Delirium is also one of the complications in the cardiac surgery. This has affected the lives of the elderly people who have undergone the surgery. On the other hand, the normal operations of the elderly people are affected by the disorder. This is because it hinders them from living normally. The impairment affects the normal lives of the elderly people and hence the policies that have been put in placer to deal with the disorder (Townsend, 2011). In relation to the case study the sentiments presented by the nurse during handing over of the aged patient can be viewed as a form of stigmatization of the care of the aged patients or clients. The nurse sentiments involve the stigmatization of the aged patients as being senile and smelly as evident in her statement, “I really hate looking after old people – they are senile and they smell.” The nurse therefore has a negative attitude and uses stereotypes in the perception of the aged clients (Elliott & Coventry 2012). Therefore in this case the stigmatization, use of stereotypes and negative attitude towards the aged in terms of the health care needs of the aged client is negatively affected. In circumstances whereby the care giver or the nurse has stigma or negative attitude towards the aged health care system the service provided will be poor. Through the process of stigmatization the nurse will not be able to provide quality health care services to the aged client. Such negative comments impact negatively in the provision of health care services in the health care professional’s code of conduct. The negative comments and stigma will lead to lack of attention for the needs of the aged client (Maxim, 2013). Measures in change of attitudes and values towards aging Nursing as a practice involves offering of quality health care services to the population with the elderly being regarded as a special category in the provision of health care services. The attitudes and perception of nurses as caregivers for the elderly play a vital role in offering healthcare services to the elderly population (Dziopa & Ahern 2009). Old age is prone to many illness and health complication due to the weakening of vital organs within the body. In the provision of health care services nurses as the primary care givers play a crucial role. Nurses should therefore be educated on the process of ageing and how assessment of an ageing client should be conducted. Education is therefore key in assisting the nurses to change their beliefs and perceptions in regards to offering health care services to the elderly population (Khanna, Cheyney & Engle 2009). The role of the nurse has evolved from being mere care givers to provision of other functions such as offering counseling services to patients, acting as change agents by implementing reforms in health care strategies and policies, offering advocacy services to their patients by being the voice for their patients in regards to their rights and being leaders and managers by developing critical decisions, co-coordinating health care activities and allocating resources whenever and wherever they are required (Sorensen, et al 2008). In addition, the role of the nurse also entails being researchers in establishing important research issues and challenges in health care systems. According to NHMRC, (2009), provision of elderly care approach to the elderly population and their families is critical in affirming life since it considers ageing as a normal process, it purposes not to quicken nor put off death and it provides a support system to aid patients to live comfortably and actively until death by incorporating patient’s spiritual, psychological and social care (NHRMC, 2009). In addition, it provides the family with a support system to help them cope during the illness process of the elderly patient and in case of bereavement and more significantly, it adopts a team approach in dealing with the patient’s and family’s needs. The family is considered a unit of care in elderly care approach and they constitute who the patient says is family and they are an important aspect since they influence decision making in regards to the type of care given to their elderly patients (Maxim, 2013). Conclusion Old age is considered as a vulnerable stage in life. This is due to the fact that the elderly are predisposed to various types of health related problems. For instance delirium is a condition that has negative impacts on the health of the elderly people. It is recommended that the policies should put in place every measure to ensure that the condition is prevented. Public awareness should be carried out regarding the condition so as to enable the elderly know how to prevent and deal with the condition. It is also recommended that the elderly should be given adequate information regarding the condition before they undergo the surgery. This is for the purposes of ensuring that they are prepared incase the condition develops. Nurses are regarded as the primary caregivers for the elderly. In this case the attitude and perceptions of the nurses and caregivers towards the elderly play a crucial role in the provision of quality health care to the elderly. When the nurses possess a negative attitude towards the elderly it impacts negatively on the elderly. Education plays an important role in ensuring that the negative stereotypes on the elderly are avoided in the provision of quality health care. The medical staff should also undergo thorough training regarding the condition. This is in order to reduce the chances of the elderly being misdiagnosed. It is also recommended that the elderly should be discouraged from spending too much time indoors. This is because it contributes to the development of the condition. References Elliott, M., and Coventry, A. (2012). Critical care: the eight vital signs of patient monitoring, British Journal of Nursing, Vol 21(10):621-625 Henneman, E.A., Gawlinski, A., and Giuliano, K. (2012). Surveillance: A Strategy for Improving Patient Safety in Acute and Critical Care Units, Critical Care Nurse Vol 32(2): 9-19 Biasco G & Surbone A. (2008). 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