Geriatric Nursing Commons^™

The Lived Experience Of Aging: Listening To The Oldest-Old, Julia A. Pusztai

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Although embraced as desirable by most, living into very old age is largely unexplored as a distinct season of life, with increased, varied, and cumulative changes during a unique time of vulnerability and frailty. The purpose of this study was to listen to the oldest-old, and to explore their lived experience of growing old. This hermeneutic phenomenology study examines the experience of finding meaning and living with losses and gains in advanced old age. This study design included three separate interviews one month apart with participants over 85 years of age. Purposive sampling resulted in 13 participants, 5 being male …

The Association Of Health Literacy With Self-Care Agency In Older Adults In Jamaica, Heather F. Fletcher

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Older adults are the fastest growing segment of the population in Jamaica. With an increase from 10% (252,225) of the total Jamaican population in 1995 to 11% (279,051) in 2005, the rate is expected to rise to 25% by 2025. Thus, it will be critically important to understand factors that may contribute to health maintenance, disease prevention, and wellness promotion. Two such factors – not studied extensively in this country - are health literacy and self-care. The purposes of this study were to (a) generate health literacy profile data with the newly-developed Health Literacy Questionnaire for community-dwelling older adults in …

Community Health Nurse Influence On Retiree Health Planning, Patricia Hora

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The number and percent of the population over the age of 60 in the United States is increasing. The majority of these people (96%) are functioning in their own homes (Shanas, 1965). Physical health is important to the enjoyment and utilization of the added years of life. Therefore it seems important to find ways to meet the older citizen before the time of illness and help him/her to develop health goals and plans that will facilitate an optimal level of functioning and improve the quality of life.

The purpose of this study was to describe a method of intervening at …

The Effect Of Pre-Admission Crisis Nursing Intervention On The Anxiety Level Of Elderly Persons On Admission To A Nursing Home, Doreen C. K. Lee

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The experimental study attempted to determine whether pre-admission crisis nursing intervention had any effect on the level of anxiety of elderly people when they were transferred from an acute hospital to a nursing home.

The literature review related to trends in numbers of nursing homes and in the increase in longevity. Several articles indicated that the aged, as a group, lacked power to alter their situations. The need for patients to express their feelings and participate in their own decisions was stressed in various studies. Other theories discussed theoretical aspects and goals of crisis intervention. Several articles suggested that crisis …

Depression In Elderly Men Following Transurethral Prostatectom, Brenda Leach Allocco

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This study was concerned with the problem of depression among elderly patients following surgery. The purpose of the study was to find out if older men following transurethral prostatectomy experienced a higher level of depression than normal elderly people in the general population. An attempt was made in the study to suggest factors in the patients' illness or environment which may have influenced the amount of depression they experienced.

Thirty patients, sixty-five years or older, were included in the study sample. Depression was measured by a self-rating depression scale (Zung) three weeks following their operations. Other facts about the patients …

The Effect Of A Repressive-Inspirational Discussion Group On The Self-Esteem Of Selected Elderly Individuals, Rebecca Hollesca Gucilatar

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This study was conducted to determine if the use of a repressive-inspirational discussion group has significance in changing the level of self-esteem of institutionalized essentially normal elderly individuals.

A review of literature indicates the need for a group method that can help in developing and maintaining self-esteem in the elderly. Different studies reveal the need for self-esteem in the aged. The development of self-esteem is necessary so that elderly individuals can cope with situations in daily living and maintain physical and mental health.

An experimental method was utilized in conducting this study. A sample of twenty elderly individuals was selected …

A Descriptive Analysis Of The Social Roles Of Nursing Home Residents, John A. Hermann

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

In contemporary American society there has been a growing trend toward nursing home residency for the aged. Up until the present there has been almost no attempt on the part of Sociology to study the sociological aspects of the life within such institutions.

A major objective of this study was to descriptively analyze the social life of nursing home residents. In order to do this, role theory was used as a tool for analysis and applied to the methods of unstructured observation and informal interviewing. The points of analysis were: role enactment, role expectations, and self-role congruency.

The research was …

An Instructional Method For Self-Administered Medications, Beryl Marx, Lorene Russell

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

An experimental study was done to determine the effectiveness of an instructional method for older ambulatory patients taking prescribed self-administered medications. This method was developed to emphasize the physicians' specific orders, the purpose of medications, feedback of instruction and a plan for remembering and recording medications. The hypothesis tested was that a selected group of ambulatory patients age 60 and over with the instructional method would make significantly fewer errors than a similar control group with no instructions.

Sixty private patients from the Loma Linda University Hospital outpatient department were selected and randomly placed in the experimental and control groups. …

Nursing Needs Of Selected Patients On Home Care, Margie Sue Temples

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

A study was conducted to identify selected needs of patients receiving nursing care at home through the Loma Linda University Hospital Department of Home Care. The descriptive survey was used. Fifty patient home care records were reviewed.

From the general information secured, it was found that 68 percent of the patients studied were women. One-half of all patients were under sixty years of age. Fifty-four percent lived with a spouse only, while 26 percent lived with their family. There were 20 percent who lived alone and six of these were over the age of sixty. Patients were found in nine …

Falls Sustained By Patients In A Selected Nursing Home, Katty Joy Fenton

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This study was done to learn how the incidence of falls was related to certain, selected factors such as ambulatory state, sex, location of occurrence and time of occurrence in the nursing home chosen for the study and to make recommendations for increasing the safety of nursing home patients.

The descriptive-survey was the method used in the study. The data were made available in the form of 235 incident reports which had been collected over a five-year period in the selected nursing home. There were 213 of these records which described falls of various types so the study was limited …

The Incidence And Types Of Medication Errors Occurring Among A Selected Group Of Elderly Patients, Harriet Dinsmore

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The purpose of this study was to find the incidence of medication errors among a group of patients, sixty years of age and over, who were being treated in the outpatient department of a selected urban hospital; and to investigate the effect of certain selected factors on the errors found. It was also planned to compare findings from this study with one done by Schwartz et. al. in New York. The descriptive survey approach employing an interview guide was used.

Errors were classified as those of omission, self-medication, incorrect dosage, and errors in timing or sequence. Fifty-two per cent of …