Geriatric Syndromes
It is known that there are often physiological changes associated with aging, which are often called “normal aging.” However many of the geriatric syndromes (dizziness, falls, unsteady gait, confusion, urinary incontinence, sleep difficulties, pressure ulcers, etc.) can easily be interpreted as “normal aging” and dismissed when they instead are serious signs and symptoms that need attention. Imagine in your history taking, your patient mentions one of the above as a new onset occurrence. What additional information would be necessary? Which assessment tool(s) would be useful to use? What information based on the subjective and objective data might cause you to determine this is more than normal age related changes? You might find this helpful in determining normal age related changes:
Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing. (2012). ConsultGeriRN – Age-related changes. Retrieved from http://consultgerirn.org/topics/normal_aging_changes/want_to_know_more
Topic 2: Cascading Iatrogenesis
Sometimes our well intentioned interventions can backfire so to speak and cause further problems such as geriatric syndromes and cascading iatrogenesis. A common trigger for cascading iatrogenesis is an adverse drug event. Using the example of a geriatric syndrome you discussed in the first Discussion topic, select medications commonly used for that condition and describe how that could result in cascading iatrogenesis. What would be a better choice of treatment?
Nursing articles to be used as the sources, full text only.