Caring for Older Adults Holistically, 4th Edition Unit 1 Chapter One (4 th Edition) Holistic Caring Pati L.H. Cox, RN, BSN, M.Ed. 12/2009

Caring for Older Adults Holistically, 4th Edition Gerontological Nursing  Guaranteed future in nursing  New nursing specialty  Certified nurses  Clinical specialists  Geriatric nurse practitioners

Caring for Older Adults Holistically, 4th Edition Gerontological Nursing  Specific body of knowledge  Signs and symptoms of illness  Medication dosages  Life stages

Caring for Older Adults Holistically, 4th Edition Demographics of Aging  Growing old is new for our society  More people are over the age of 65  According to 2002 census  35.6 million older adults  Constitute 12.3% of the population  20.8 million women over age 65  14.8 million men over age 65

Caring for Older Adults Holistically, 4th Edition Demographics of Aging  2002 Census (cont.)  Average life expectancy is  79 years for women  72.9 years for men  85+ years of age will increase from 4.6 million to 9.6 million in 2030  More older women in the 85+ category  65+ age group is projected to double within the next 25 years

Caring for Older Adults Holistically, 4th Edition Nursing Philosophy  What is your nursing philosophy?  Need to develop own philosophy  Simple  Specific  Has meaning to you

Caring for Older Adults Holistically, 4th Edition Holistic Nursing  Weaves technical skills with social science skills  Focuses on persons’ whole being rather than just specific parts  Nurse takes an active role in developing a healing relationship with the patient  Listening is a critical activity for promoting holistic care

Caring for Older Adults Holistically, 4th Edition Holistic Nursing  Encourages participation of patient in his or her care  Teamwork is important  Nurse identifies potential team members  Team members may include  Family members or other significant others  Various health-care providers

Caring for Older Adults Holistically, 4th Edition

Human Caring  Jean Watson  The Science of Human Caring  Importance of developing personalized care  Foundation of caring  View all humans as valued people  Place an emphasis on the human relationship  Focus on the human-to-human relationship

Caring for Older Adults Holistically, 4th Edition