Table of Contents
Needs of Residents in Nursing care Homes
The aged people in nursing care homes often need help with healthcare on a daily basis. These old people are weak and are not always able to get out and about as they used to do when they were young, therefore, they need some assistance or extra company. Nursing homes often offer the necessary support and healthcare for aged people for either a temporary or permanent period (Fahey, Montgomery, Barnes & Protheroe, 2003). These aged people are prone to disabilities, emergency care and illness. Sometimes the aged people are just too weak to take care of their families, therefore, they may also need help with their families. The staff who work in the care homes often help them with the daily chores such as laundry, cooking, cleaning, going to the toilet, grooming, and dressing. Other forms of nursing care that they may need include catheter care or wound care.
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How to help families grapple with the decision of moving a loved one to an assisted care facility (nursing homes)
Nursing care homes requires that the aged people should be moved to the healthcare facilities whereby they will be detached from their families either temporarily or permanently (Green et al, 2002). Families that get detached from their loved ones are bound to experience nostalgia. Dealing with nostalgia is very sensitive because families that love one another do not always want to get separated for long periods. To deal with such issues, it is recommended that the families to be guided and counselled concerning their loved ones. They should be informed of the significance of their loved ones health and that taking care of them would be highly beneficial to them and their families in general.
Old people need help quite often and leaving them with their families may not help sufficiently because of lack of professionalism. A family member might not take care of an elderly person the same way as a trained nurse who works in a nursing home (O’Sullivan & Keane, 2000). Therefore, advising the loved one about professionalism in nursing care homes is crucial. Besides, even if these old people were left to live with their families, some of their families would not help them sufficiently due to commitment in work or career related activities.
However, the final decision is always at the discretion of the elderly and their families. The guidance and counselling is only meant to give advice on the best option to choose. Sometimes the family or loved ones might not want the elderly person to stay away from them. In such cases, proper arrangements are always made, for instance, assigning a special doctor who will be visiting the elderly on a regular basis.
The physical considerations for residents in nursing homes
Residents who enter nursing homes for healthcare services are often very old, weak and physically inactive. The old age exposes these people to numerous illness, vulnerability to diseases, and also disabilities (Ing, 1987). These exposures require medical assistance from a well-trained practitioner. The reason why old people must move to care homes is so that they can be close to these professional healthcare practitioners. Closeness means that the healthcare practitioners can monitor these elderly people on a daily basis and identify their healthcare needs. The nursing homes are also equipped with various medical kits that can be used during emergency treatment. Leaving these elderly people in the hands of their families or loved ones may not help much because of lack of proper training for nursing care homes. While the loved ones might offer the best company, they might be quite useful in times of emergencies.
Biological considerations for residents in nursing homes
The elderly people are prone to catch diseases very easily due to their weak immune systems. With old age, the immune systems become very weak and can hardly fight any pathogens that enter the bodies (Berglund, 2007).. The medical practitioners will be monitoring the immune system of these aged people and administering drugs when necessary. Sometimes it may not just be a weak immune system; it may be other medical complications that need to be studied. As mentioned earlier, with old age comes the diseases, hence, consistent medical assistance is needed on a daily basis.
Psychological considerations for residents in nursing homes
With old age, the thinking capacity is also diminished hence the old people are bound to think very slowly and act slow compared to the young ones. Old age also exposes these people into anxiety and depression.
- Berglund, A. L. (2007). Satisfaction with caring and living conditions in nursing homes: Views of elderly persons, next of kin and staff members. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 13(1), 46-51.
- Fahey, T., Montgomery, A. A., Barnes, J., & Protheroe, J. (2003). Quality of care for elderly residents in nursing homes and elderly people living at home: controlled observational study. Bmj, 326(7389), 580.
- Green, K. Y., Belliot, G., Taylor, J. L., Valdesuso, J., Lew, J. F., Kapikian, A. Z., & Lin, F. Y. C. (2002). A predominant role for Norwalk-like viruses as agents of epidemic gastroenteritis in Maryland nursing homes for the elderly. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 185(2), 133-146.
- Ing, E. H. (1987). Use of nursing homes by the elderly: Preliminary data from the 1985 National Nursing Home Survey.
- O’Sullivan, N. P., & Keane, C. T. (2000). The prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among the residents of six nursing homes for the elderly. Journal of Hospital Infection, 45(4), 322-329.