Nursing Case Study Paper

Nursing Case Study Paper
Geriatrics are susceptible to various health conditions. It is therefore important that the elderly undergo routine checkup for various diseases. The screening will help in early detection of the various diseases so that treatment is started early before the conditions get worse. However, early diagnosis may have a negative impact on the patients. This paper will cover various aspects of a diabetic older adult, also referred to as the client.
Question #1
Diagnoses may result in the identification of comorbid diseases and consideration for various medications or therapies. Quality of life is also significantly affected by the number of comorbidities. The more the comorbidities of diabetes, the greater the negative impact on the quality of life. Additionally, medication may cause side effects which may further worsen quality of life. However, diagnoses followed by proper treatment may improve the quality of life of the patient. Quality of life of the client can be influenced by several factors. The primary goal of diagnosis and treatment of diabetes is quality of life which may include social and psychological components of life (Trikkalinou, Papazafiropoulou, and Melidoniset, 2017. Early diagnosis might have a negative impact on his current quality of life. Marrero et al. (2014) showed that diagnosis of type 2 diabetes caused a negative health-related quality of life among the participants.
Question #2
It is important to establish the medical history of the client.

This includes inquiring how long the client has experienced symptoms. Others include understanding family history, medical history, and also the lifestyle of the client. Medical history includes asking the clients drugs he has been taking, and previous admission or surgery. Additionally, medical history includes the previous diagnosis of high cholesterol, hypertension, or both.
Question #3
The elderly may have poor access to healthcare since they may not have healthcare coverage. Even those who have healthcare cover may have difficulty visiting healthcare facilities due to their frailty and deteriorating health conditions. Majority of the elderly who live in rural areas may have a challenge of accessing healthcare since medical facilities are located far from their homes. Although the client may visit a nearby health facility, he may have difficulty visiting a facility located far as he ages or as his condition worsens.
Question #4
In this condition, special considerations for the geriatric population is to carefully consider not just the effects associated with the advancing age but also changes in health status. Besides improved glycemic control, it is also necessary to develop aggressive management of risk factors such as severe hypoglycemia. Severe hypoglycemia is associated with loss of altered mental status, falls leading to fractures, and loss of mental consciousness (Weinstock et al., 2015). Diet is also key to improving their health. Additionally, it is important to diagnose the diabetic patient for any comorbid conditions.
Question $5
Top priority nursing diagnosis for the client is examination of the sugar levels in the blood. To diagnose measure the blood sugar levels, a random plasma glucose (RPG) test is performed (American Diabetes Association, 2015). If the RPG shows it is equal or more than 200mg/dl, the patient has diabetes. Higher figures suggests level of severity. It is important to test blood sugar in order to know the type of diabetes, the recommended medication, nutritional advice, and likely side effects of medication or failure to comply medication regimen. RPG method is the best since using other methods may require that the patient starves for 8 hours and this might worsen his health.
Question #6
The client lives on the same farm with his married son who has children. This is pertinent to the client since his condition requires social support. Having close family members provide him with the needed social support. Besides family members, the patient also get social support from the church.
Question #7
The client draws social support from his son, grandchildren, and daughter in law. Additionally, he derives social support occasionally from church members. However, the social support he gets is inadequate. His son does not seem to offer the appropriate social support since he mistreats him instead of caring her. However, he seems to receive some little social support from his grandchildren and daughter in law.
Question #8
Top priority psychosocial diagnosis for the client include an assessment of certain aspects of the patient’s life which include feelings, attitudes, and personal relationships. The diagnosis can be done by asking the client questions or interviewing about history of current illness, past psychiatric/psychological problems, history of previous drug or alcohol abuse, violence risks, and other risk factors such as homicidal behavior. Depending on the answers provided by the client, appropriate interventions will be suggested. Psychosocial diagnosis is a nursing priority since it might influence how I plan the nursing care.
Question #9
One social concern faced by the client is inadequate social support. The description suggest a situation where the client has minimum interaction with other people. The client spends time with alone and occasionally with only his son and his family. This is a common social problem among the aging population since most of them experience social isolation and loneliness (Courtin and Knapp, 2017).
Question #10
The client can benefit by utilizing certain community resources. I recommend that the client continue to participate in social events and functions in the community. I also recommend regular visits by social workers. The client can also use care centers for the aged if he cannot access adequate care in the farm. The resources not only address psychosocial needs as well as medical needs.
Conclusion
Older adults face many health challenges as their ages advance. The client has diabetes, and early diagnosis may have a negative impact on his quality of life. One pertinent issue is to understand the medical history of the client. Certain factors such as frailty and lack of health cover affect the elderly’s ability to access healthcare. Unlike other patients, the diabetic elderly need to be given special considerations. Nursing and psychological diagnosis are both necessary for an elderly with diabetes. The elderly need social support as well. Community resources can contribute toward the improved health of the elderly.
References
American Diabetes Association. (2015). Standards of medical care in diabetes—2015 abridged for primary care providers. Clinical diabetes: a publication of the American Diabetes Association, 33(2), 97-111.
Courtin, E., & Knapp, M. (2017). Social isolation, loneliness, and health in old age: a scoping review. Health & social care in the community, 25(3), 799-812.
Kim, G., Shim, R., Ford, K. L., & Baker, T. A. (2015). The relation between diabetes self-efficacy and psychological distress among older adults: do racial and ethnic differences exist? Journal of aging and health, 27(2), 320-333.
Marrero, D., Pan, Q., Barrett-Connor, E., De Groot, M., Zhang, P., Percy, C., & DPPOS Research Group. (2014). Impact of diagnosis of diabetes on health-related quality of life among high-risk individuals: the Diabetes Prevention Program outcomes study. Quality of Life Research, 23(1), 75-88.
Trikkalinou, A., Papazafiropoulou, A. K., & Melidonis, A. (2017). Type 2 diabetes and quality of life. World journal of diabetes, 8(4), 120-129.
Weinstock, R. S., DuBose, S. N., Bergenstal, R. M., Chaytor, N. S., Peterson, C., Olson, B. A., … & Liljenquist, D. R. (2015). Risk factors associated with severe hypoglycemia in older adults with type 1 diabetes. Diabetes Care, dc151426.