Nursing and Elderly Care

Nursing and Elderly Care



Nursing and Elderly Care

INTRODUCTION

The study of nursing contribution to elderly care starts from the theoretical postulates of the discipline, more specifically from the three paradigms nurses, namely p. of categorization, p. integration and p. transformation. To justify this interest in nursing theory we endorse the reasons given by Adam (1): the legitimate right of nurses to be recognized as full members of the scientific community, the responsibility of nurses to contribute to knowledge in the health field and perhaps more important, but often least recognized the great need for nurses to acquire the essential knowledge for practice.

Aging is a continuous biological process from birth to death, constantly changing the structure and functioning of our being and which includes a development phase followed by a decline phase. A person is considered old after 60-65 years. On Age is the passage of the period to retirement (Alleyne and Jumaa, 2007, 230-243). There is no real definition of the elderly. For me, the person old is a human being become more vulnerable and more fragile, because the as of aging, the elderly person loses his ability, whether physical or mental, physiological and pathological conditions. Despite the vulnerability it can show, the elderly person is a human being with full needs, demands, whether expressed or not.

"Old age is a hospital where all diseases are gathered."

Since 1984, health, the person, care and environment are considered core concepts of the discipline or, which is, Meta paradigm nurse (2.3) as the particular way that nurses deal the relationship between these four concepts can delimit its field with respect to the other disciplines (4). The analysis of these nurses from different paradigms will allow us to contemplate the evolution of the discipline and identify the paradigm that guides our current practice in elderly care and their consequences.

CONCEPTS

The provision of care to the individual in any stage of the life cycle is characteristic of the nursing discipline, being geriatric nursing gerontology which addresses the care of the elderly. Old age in a stage in the life of the person, but it is difficult to pinpoint the beginning given the diversity of approaches can be taken into account. Labour standards or production more or less coinciding with a decline in physical and mental abilities of the individual have been traditionally used in the health system to mark the beginning of old age (65 years = old pension labour =) and thus change the bid assistance and health benefits.

The 65 years can continue to be a job criterion, but not valid when it comes to direct health care programs targeted to the elderly. According to the results of the study, nationwide, conducted by the Centre for Sociological Research (5) about 2,500 people over 65 years, 75% are independent, require assistance from others and are usually the ones who help their family closer (children, grandchildren Reasons of health, wellness, longevity, life expectancy and possibly economic reasons (high number of over 65 years, failure or resource constraints) make the existing programs are directed at elderly people with ages over 70 ñ 75 years ...