Recovering from pneumonia.

Recovering from pneumonia.

Family

Scenario: Family An 83, year old woman is recovering from pneumonia. She has Alzheimer’s disease and has become increasingly hostile and unmanageable in the home setting. Her 65, year old daughter is distraught about the idea of placing her mother in a long-term care facility but feels she is not able to care for her. What is your role in this situation? How might you help the daughter with her decision? What information would you give the daughter?

 

· Your response should be 70+ words

· Read the scenario and the post below, then respond to it

· Response should ask for clarification or describe a situation that illustrates the points being made. Simply agree or disagree and state why you agree or disagree

 

 

My Role in the Situation

My role is to gather enough information concerning Alzheimer’s disease and how to care for a person suffering from the disease. I will help the patient’s daughter identify available options for the mother by evaluating the resources at their disposal towards palliative care. Coming up with different options will make it easy for the daughter to decide on her mother’s care during her last days. Taking the daughter through the advantage and disadvantages of each available option to help her make an informed choice not only for her mother but also for herself. According to Meiner and Yeager (2018), having a care plan is very important as it helps prevent family conflicts when caring for a patient. I will support the daughter in creating a written plan that specifies the roles of those involved in the care of her mother.

Help with Decision Making

It is painful when a person close to you does not recognize you, and in this case, it is her mother. Placing one’s parent in a long-term care facility is not always easy; it takes up many emotions and guilt as people feel that they are not making the right decision most of the time. As a professional nurse, I will help the daughter deal with her emotions as she takes care of her mother. I would ask the doctor to make a referral for the daughter to speak to a social worker or case manager. I would give the daughter different types of long-term care facilities her mother could live in.

Additional Information

I will inform the daughter on what to expect as her mother’s Alzheimer’s disease progresses. I will also advise her to keep seeing her friends, have an active life outside the facility, and take care of her mother. All these are meant to encourage the daughter to take care of herself in the long run, thus avoiding emotional distress and being burnt both physically and mentally.

 

 

Exercise

You are checking blood pressures at a senior citizen health fair. After you check the blood pressure of an older woman, she asks you about starting an exercise program. She has not been exercising, but some of her friends have told her that she should start to exercise regularly. What recommendations do you give her? What precautions do you include in your recommendations?

 

· Your response should be 70+ words

· Read the scenario and the post below, then respond to the post

· Response should ask for clarification or describe a situation that illustrates the points being made. Simply agree or disagree and state why you agree or disagree

 

· Daily exercise is important to live a long and healthy life. Exercising not only helps with weight loss or maintaining weight, but it also boosts energy, increases endorphins which promotes better sleep, and can be used as a relaxation technique. I would first begin by gathering some information about her lifestyle and if she had worked out in her past. If so, I would ask what type of exercises she would perform and the intensity. I would also ask about what workout programs she is thinking about joining and if she has any concerns.

· The recommendations I would give her would be to start working out, but start out slow and don’t push herself. I would encourage her to begin by going on short walks for about 15-30 minutes a day and gradually increase the time if she is able to and that’s what she wants. Additionally, I would encourage her to add like 2-5 pound ankle or wrist weights after several weeks and that could help strengthen her muscles. Then, I would give information on some workout programs that are senior-friendly that she might enjoy.

· Some precautions I would include would be not to overdo it and burn herself out. As well as take extra safety precautions when working out such as ensuring proper workout shoes, increasing water intake, and eating a lot of nutritious foods to fuel her body. I would also educate her that her bones are not as strong as they were when she was younger and not to engage in heavy lifting due to the risk of breaking her bones. I would also recommend that she should take rest days throughout the week.