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Caregivers Corner - February 2002

Completely NEW for 2002... The Institute for Caregiver Education is pleased to announce the release of its fully revised Nursing Assistant Specialist for Elders curriculum. 

The Institute conducted several pilot implementations of the new curriculum during the fall of 2001 with the participation of more than 50 employees representing 10 Pennsylvania and Maryland-based nursing centers.  Graduates reported that the course infused them with a fresh perspective, helping them to better understand the importance of their role in the healthcare team.  They came into the program already knowing the "what" of their job function; they emerged from the course with a far greater understanding of and appreciation for the "why." 

Just as the field of pediatric care requires specialized knowledge and skills to meet those needs that are unique to children, geriatric healthcare is a specialty that requires its own set of knowledge and skills.  The NASE curriculum broadens nursing assistants' understanding of the many physiological changes that occur as consequences of the aging process and how these changes increase the complexity of caring for the elderly.  This relates to the chronic diseases that the elderly so often have to live with, as well as the mental status changes that occur frequently with aging.

Beginning with an understanding of meeting the basic needs (providing the best possible quality of life, meeting specialized nutritional needs, ensuring dignity with dying, promoting accurate ADL documentation and reporting, providing continence care and skin care), the curriculum continues with a concentration in cognitive impairment and behavior management.  The elderly are particularly vulnerable to mental status changes, due in part to the social and emotional changes that take place at this stage of life.  Of equal concern is the fact that in the elderly all medication has the potential to be psychoactive.  This is compounded by the fact that the elderly generally are prescribed many more medications in the treatment of multiple chronic illnesses.  For these reasons a large part of caring for the elderly entails dealing with depression, cognitive impairment and behavior management issues.

The curriculum also covers in significant depth, all of the major body systems, the physiological changes related to the normal aging process and the many commonly occurring chronic diseases of each of these systems.  Nursing assistants who graduated during the pilot phase have found NASE to be both challenging and rewarding.  They were able throughout the course to identify many ways in which this professional development experience will enrich their practice.  In their evaluations of the learning experience, participants across the board felt they would be able to return to their jobs and better care for their residents.