Safety Program for Elderly Patients
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The minimization of accidents involving elderly patients in institutional health care settings requires the development and implementation of a formal safety and risk management program, which deals with, among other things, accidents involving elderly patients. Accidents involving elderly patients in institutional health care settings may be classified in two general groups. First, there are those accidents which may be considered to be patientinitiated, such as falls when walking unattended. Second, there are those accidents which occur when a patient is under the direct care of a member of the institutional staff. This second group of accidents may include physical mishaps, such as falls, but it is more inclusive than the first group, and also includes the administration of nonprescribed medication, misdosage of prescribed medication, and similar actions.A number of formal steps are required for the minimization of accidents involving the elderly in institutional health care settings. The actions recommended are as follows: 1. Formulate and implement a formal safety and risk management program for the institution. This program must (a) identify the types of accidents in which elderly patients may be involved, (b) delineate specific institutional actions to 1 2minimize the occurrence of such accidents (physical facility modification and maintenance, standard operating procedures dealing with the care and monitoring of elderly patients, and so forth), a
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nd, additionally, often leads to depression. The older adult faced with a loss of hearing also has a tendency to think that little hope exists at their age that they will be able to 4develop effective coping strategies. These individuals often subscribe to the popular misconception that individuals over the age of 65 are not capable of learning.
In point of fact, older adults are capable of learning, and their capacities in this context are often as great as are those of much younger persons (Bower, 1986). Thus, neither the older adult nor members of the staff of health care institutions should refrain from attempts to teach elderly patients how to avoid patientinitiated accidents. The individual experiencing hearing loss will be exposed to some danger, as a result of not being capable of hearing sounds within the environment which indicate a need for an individual response. There exist both coping strategies which elderly patients may be taught, and electromechanical aids to assist elderly patients in the avoidance of patientinitiated accidents.
Depression is possibly the most serious of the psycholo gical problems which are faced by older adults. It is often either induced or exacerbated by problems related to s
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Kaplan Sadock, INTRODUCTION Institutional, , ANALYSIS Accidents, March Changing, Citizen Care, elderly patients, health care, Safety Health, institutional health care, REFERENCES Altschuler, institutional health, patients institutional health, patientinitiated accidents, patients institutional, elderly patients institutional, care settings, Journal Psychiatry, kaplan sadock 1985, sadock 1985, health care settings, accidents involving, kaplan sadock, SeptemberOctober Staff, involving elderly,
Approximate Word count = 1665
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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