Adult Nursing

As people continue to advance in age, they face a higher likelihood of developing the disease (Jaul & Jaul & Barron, 2017). Examples of diseases that are likely to get the elderly include Parkinson’s disease, arthritis, hypertension, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and Glaucoma, among others (Franceschi et al., 2018, p.456). With such diseases nowadays among older people, there is a high need for adult nursing. In a work that Donelan et al. (2019) conducted, adults need nursing as a result of ill physical and mental health. Williams & Wold (2020) add that degenerative diseases that adults suffer from, including mental and physical issues, require nursing care. Adult nursing refers to nursing care, where a nurse takes care of the patient’s psychological and physical wellbeing (Barton & Le, 2012, p.4). Adult nursing takes care of people from early adulthood to the indefinite age (Tait et al., 2015, p.56). In their study, Salmond & Echevarria (2017) note that among the healthcare forms of nursing that requires a bit of enhancement, adult nursing leads. In situations where the adults and especially the elderly need physical and psychological care, and the family is overwhelmed, hiring an adult nurse is recommended.

Scope of Adult Nursing

According to Tait et al. (2015), adult nursing is a broad field with many professionals and jobs. Le (2015) work breaks adult nursing into different age groups. For instance, elderly nursing refers to taking care of senior citizens a branch in adult nursing. Verweij et al. (2018) note that senior adult and elderly adult nursing refers to taking care of the physical and psychological aspects of the elderly.  As argued earlier, the elderly are prone to many degenerative diseases and issues that require a close examination (Aparecida & Rodrigues, 2014, p.353: Knight, 2013, p.5).  For instance, an elderly patient with Alzheimer’s requires much nursing care, including pharmacological which is drug interventions, reminiscence therapy, physical exercise, and multisensory stimulation (Mileski et al., 2018, p.969). Although nurses may not participate in all the above treatment plans, they closely work with elderly patients and an MDT to effectively manage Alzheimer’s (Scales et al., 2018, p.89).

Joel (2017) categorizes nurses in three main types, including the general nurse, midwife, and a health specialist nurse. Scales et al. (2018) note that there are four subdivisions of nurses, including children’s nurses, learning disabilities nurses, adult nurses, and public health specialists. Franceschi et al. (2018) note that adult nurses strive to make a difference in the lives of adults who may not be able to help themselves. Adult nurses’ responsibilities include consultations, offering education to the patient on their general health and disease prevention among adult patients (Schüssler and Lohrmann, 2017, p.67).

Adult Nurse Role

As emphasized previously, adult nursing involves prevention, management, and restoration of an adult’s wellbeing (Salmond and Echevarria, 2017, p.22). In a hospital or a home setting, adult nurses assist in facilitating the patient’s health. After identifying the condition that an adult patient has, adult nurses develop treatment plans towards curing it. In other cases, the disease may not be curable, and in this case, they introduce management interventions. In a work that Stanhope & Lancaster (2013) conducted, adult nurses also work on preventive measures. In this era with many infectious diseases, adult nurses educate their patients on the benefits of eating well-balanced die, the benefits of regular checkup the benefits of regularly washing of hands. Such educative programs may prevent probable illnesses in the future. Various interventions may also prolong the patient’s life despite them having severe conditions.

Adult Nursing Case

This paper explores the case of a 48-year-old man (referred to Mr. Paul) with Huntington’s disease. Mr. Paul has been ill for the last four years and has been in the primary care of his wife, Mrs. Paul. Over the last four years, Mrs. Paul has ensured that all that the patient requires is available. Mr. Paul worked as a surveyor for around 20 years, and he later retired and started a business. Over the years, they have tried conceiving, which has proven impossible. After battling with Huntington’s disease for a couple of years, Mr. Paul decided to close the business, and Mrs. Paul becomes the primary caregiver. Because of the much care that Mr. Paul requires, Mrs. Paul had to quit his teaching job. With Mr. Paul’s condition deteriorating by the day, Mrs. Paul decided to hire an adult nurse.

Huntington’s disease

Huntington’s disease is one of the degenerative genetic diseases that develop in people from 40 years. As health (2019) notes, Huntington’s disease causes the brain cells to die. With the death of the brain cells, the patient’s motor coordination is gradually affected. Hazer and Ersoy (2017), in their work, argue that the disease is incurable, and in this case, a patient requires permanent caregiving at their later life stages. Health (2019) notes that involuntary body jerks characterize the later stages of the condition. Hazer and Ersoy (2017) add that at this later stage, the patient loses the ability to talk or even make coordinated moves. Geschwind & Belkoura (2016) add another symptom where he argues that Huntington’s disease patient may decline into dementia stages. With such issues, permanent and fulltime care must be given to the patients.

Mr. Paul Case

From a closer analysis, Mr. Paul had a mediocre stage of this condition when the adult nurse was being hired. Although much was lost, he had retained some speech. Also, Mr. Paul had some coordinated movement abilities. On trying to interrogate him, he could talk a little. However, the patient only used small syllables. It was also noted that he could not talk using long sentences, and he used to cut down sentences where some meaning was lost. His speech seemed broken, and even in engaging in the small talk, there was a lot of long pauses. He also could point on things and hold lighter things in his hand. Since his movements were largely affected, he used a wheelchair.

Nurse Role in the Case

The adult nurse role, in this case, is to offer physical and mental support. Firstly, Mr. Paul is to be given proper education on his condition and therapy expected results.  Because of the current illness, the nurse has the responsibility of diagnosing any other mental illness that the patient might have. Possible mental conditions that Mr. Paul might have include delirium and depression. On meeting the patient for the first time, the adult nurse must establish rapport as proposed by Ulutasdemir (2018). Any misunderstanding as a result of poor patient-nurse relationships may lead to deteriorating effects.  Apart from counseling, offering social companionship, among other mental health care is required. Proper physical care will also be offered that entails medical and offering basic needs (food, water, carrying him to the wheelchair and to the washroom).

Adult Nurse Role to Family Members

Elderly illnesses affect not only the patient but may also affect the entire family.  Mrs. Paul seems to be largely affected since she spends all her time taking care of the husband.  Firstly, the nurse must ensure that she understands the condition and the condition’s consequences. Besides, she needs to know that the condition is incurable. Apart from Mrs. Paul, other family members probably do not understand the disease. In such a case, they need to be educated on the seriousness of the condition and how they can help.

Role of the Multidisciplinary

To effectively take care of Mr. Paul, various MDT will be consulted, including recreational officers, nutritionists and dieticians, general practitioners, and physiotherapists. The MDT roles are represented in the table below.

MDT	Role
Recreational Therapist	Ensures that Mr. Paul gets enough recreation and entertainment throughout the week. These activities ensure the patient does not feel different from others.
Nutritionist and dieticians	Will ensure that the patient eats a healthy diet suitable for his age
General Practitioner	The GP will do a bi-weekly check-up to examine the situation and offer updates. He will also prescribe the right medication to manage the condition.
Physiotherapist	The physiotherapist will retrain Mr. Paul to use his motor skills. Despite the patient’s mental health condition resulting from brain damage, the physiotherapist can offer effective exercises that suit Mr. Paul’s current condition.

As explored above, adult nurses have the utmost responsibility to take care of ailing adults. They engage in the prevention, management, and restoration of an adult’s wellbeing, both physical and mental. Once the patient’s condition is identified, the adult nurse comes up with a treatment plan for its management. Adult nurses work hand in hand with many MDT, including physiotherapists, dieticians, nutritionists, GP, and recreational therapists.

Bibliography

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Aparecida, R., and Rodrigues, P. 2014. Contributions of Nursing in Elderly Care. NCBI Journal, 22(3), 353-354.

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Donelan, K., Chang, Y., Berrett-Abebe, J., Spetz, J., Auerbach, D., Norman, L. and Buerhaus, P., 2019. Care Management For Older Adults: The Roles Of Nurses, Social Workers, And Physicians. Health Affairs, 38(6), pp.941-949.

Franceschi, C., Garagnani, P., Morsiani, C., Conte, M., Santoro, A., Grignolio, A., Monti, D., Capri, M. and Salvioli, S., 2018. The Continuum of Aging and Age-Related Diseases: Common Mechanisms but Different Rates. Frontiers in Medicine, 5

Geschwind, M. D., & Belkoura, C. R. 2016. Non-alzheimer’s and atypical dementia. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.