Pressure sores care and management Among the Elderly: Causes, Care, and Management
Question
Task: What are the primary causes of Pressure sores care and management in elderly individuals, and what strategies can be employed to improve their management and prevention?
Answer
Introduction
Pressure sores care and management are classified as being a major concern among old and aged people due to them occurring in areas where the body comes into constant contact with a surface while sitting or lying in bed for long periods without turning. This results in Pressure sores care and management developing on venerable areas of the body which makes walking, standing, sitting and sleeping very uncomfortable for the patient leading to additional health complication(ScholarlyEditions, 2012). The pressure sore is not very common among younger people but does occur due to modern life style trends such as sitting in front of long period’s computers without resting. It is common among aged people and especially those who are bedridden or must use a wheelchair.
The Pressure sores care and management develop due to pressure being applied to one specific area experiencing pressure which blocks free blood flow through the skin in the area resulting in dead tissue. Pressure sores care and management are categorized in 4 stages each progressively more severe than the earlier stage thus making it critical to monitor older people to identify and care for the sores before they progress in severity. This is best done by medical professionals and nurses specializing in old aged care but can financial constraints lead to many families not admitting older and bedridden family members to special old aged care centers resulting in the lack of proper pressure sore care and management. With instances of older patients suffering from Pressure sores care and management on the rise, it has become critical to creating more awareness regarding pressure sore patient care to assist with improving the patients’ health, comfort, and wellbeing.
Literature Review
To help develop an informative research paper related to pressure ulcers, reviews of the latest research papers shall be conducted to identify the latest research and information linked to pressure ulcers(Alvesson & Sköldberg, 2009). The literature will also assist with identifying important developments linked to pressure ulcer care, healing and different approaches linked to caring for patients suffering from pressure ulcers. After pressure ulcer diagnosis and development, Patient care is among the most important points since this is the stage which delivers discomfort among patients resulting in further health degradation.
Data Collection and Sampling
Relevant literature shall be collected from the internet which will help identify different forms of pressure ulcer dressage being used by medical professionals and nurses to help identify the most suitable to be used on a patient who may not have access to professional medical care.Information shall primarily be collected fromprevious research finding published on journals on the internet but will also involve patient sampling. The study will involve between 50-75pressuressuffering from ulcer patients depending on availability who will be chosen for the research from the local medical care facilities. This will allow for theoretical finding to be linked to practical and live cases involving pressure sore development and care thus allow for a direct comparison to be made and the theory as well as practice results to be compared.
Purposeor research
The number of instances related to pressure ulcers has registered a rapid increase in Australia in the past decade and this is directly linked to the younger generation needing to invest more hours towards employment which results in the lack of time to care for older members of society. It has also been observed that the younger generation has lost the close bond and link with their older members of society which is resulting in negligence towards caring or older members of society. Many younger people also can’t afford and are not willing to place their older family members in old care homes resulting in the older member being neglected who is resulting in an increasing number of care and hygiene related health issues(Levine, Sinno, Levine, & Saadeh, 2013).
It’s also important to mention that people today have access to the internet but have grown deeply involved in socializing on the internet rather than educating themselves. This has resulted in a form of ignorance where individuals are keener on spending time on their gadgets gossiping rather than educating themselves on ways they can care for an elderly person. This has resulted in much elderly patient care being neglected and pressure sources being missed during stage 1 and 2 which are crucial towards treatment and only discovered after the sores have reached stage 3 or 4 which makes the patient’s life more discomfiting. This also makes treating the Pressure sores care and management considerably harder as they require special care and take a considerably harder time to heal.
Employment – Lack of Time
The instances of Pressure sores care and management among elderly people have been identified to register a shirt rise in recent years but it’s important to keep in mind this is mainly happening in urban areas and cities. This is due to city residents having grown too busy in their work and focusing on generating money to live in the city which has resulted in the lack of time to care for older family members. This results in the older people being left home alone while all younger or capable members go to office resulting in them simply needed to wait if they are immobile. The lack of time and one individual’s dedication towards caring for the home and older people has resulted in the rapid increase in the number of Pressure sores care and management among older people living in cities.
Older Family Members Viewed As a Burden
It’s also important to understand that family bonds are not as strong as they used to be in the past and today older members of society are viewed more of a burden by the younger generations. This results in the older members being neglected socially if they are incapacitated and unable to care for themselves. This neglect towards older members of society is also directly linked to the increase in a number of Pressure sores care and management among older people in recent years.
Not Able To Afford Old Care Homes
Once again it’s common to find people rushing to work and live in cities due to them offering better opportunities but this also results in increasing living costs with any families now struggling to make ends meet. With government sponsors old care facilities already overcrowded, many families cannot afford to place their older family members in old aged care homes where they would get proper care. This results in the older family members remaining dependent on inexperienced family members to offer their care and assistance which result from Pressure sores care and management not been detected and treated on time resulting in further complications.
Internet Addition – Ignorance
The Internet has been identified to carry considerable information and can assist spreading knowledge across the global population but 95% of the users did not make use of this knowledge well. Today the social media has grown to become an addition with people demonstrating serious addition towards social media. These results in individuals going to work and returning home to spend hours simply checking on gossip on the internet rather than spend the time caring for ailing elderly family members. Classified as an ignorant addition by many psychologists the social media is directly linked to many older patients failing to get the care and attention needed to manage Pressure sores care and management.
Research Framework
It’s important to understand that to tackle and develop a research plan which addresses the older patient’s needs it’s critical that a clear pressure sore research framework is developed(Ng, Hui, Chan, & Wong, 2014). The framework will need to identify the main reason linked to pressure sore development after which the individual factors can be broken down into sub factors which will help identify additional secondary aspects linked to pressure sore development.
The model also allows the researcher to identify important points which will allow helping with the development of mid-range as well as long range theories linked to the pressure sore causes. Being a medical condition linked to negligence and over straining certain parts of the body it is important to identify the factors causing the pressure sore develop by identifying and expanding on mid and long range theories during the research. For this research the use of mid and long theories research theories shallbe used to identify the factors causing the Pressure sores care and management. These theories will help identify the reasons behind sore development which can assist with prevention and early detection. In addition to the above mention we shall also utilize the qualitative research method which would allow for practical data to be collected and compared to the theoretical data to deliver a clear analysis of the findings, qualitative research methods allows for data to be compiled from real life situations allowing the researcher also explore and identify important issues which may have been missed by previous research.
Framework Sub-sections
Being a research analysis, it is critical to identify all possible aspects linked to pressure sore development among older members of the family thus allowing the individual cater to each individually. This is also important as it allows the caregiver to identify as many causes of the Pressure sores care and management allowing them to manage each one and also asset they eliminate some which may be identified before developing to advance stages. Developing a framework is critical towards successful patient care and allows for a more systematic care approach for the patients as well as allows for the caregiver to organza the daily routine in an better manner thus manage all their daily chores and work as well as deliver high quality care top the older members of the family who may be at risk of developing Pressure sores care and management.
Data Collection and Research
Another important aspect linked to successful reporting of medical conditions also involved in-depth research and understanding of the medical condition and collation of relevant data and information. This is today best done by researching for and collecting information from the internet which is the primary source of information. Research must be credible thus must be conducted on authenticated and from peer-reviewed websites to ensure if the genuine and correct(Allen, 2012).
To perform a project research it is critical to limit data and research information collection to government and education websites. Data shall call be collected from online journals and book published on the subject. To ensure the latest information has been collected the research and data collection shall be limited to publication and research no more than 7 years. The research shall also focus on data collection directly from the patients and medical professionals and individuals caring for patients suffering from Pressure sores care and management. This will deliver a real life situation linked to current development and information which can be directly competed to previously documented research data to deliver clearer financing.
Sample Age Group for Research
Pressure sores care and management tend to mainly affect patients who are incapacitated and unable to move freely without assistance. This results in the majority of patients suffering from Pressure sores care and management being old bed ridden patient but the condition also affects the patient who may be crippled and depend on a wheelchair or are suffering from medical conditions like stroke or paralysis and several other medical conditions which may render a patient immobile. Recent years have also seen the rise in severe obesity patients suffering from serious pressure sore complication simply due to being overweight which over exerts pressure on certain parts of the patient’s body(Gillespie, McInnes, Kent, Whitty, & Thalib, 2014).
Pressure sores care and management, therefore, are capable of affecting individuals of all ages but are mainly associated with individuals who are incapacitated and unable to move their body freely. This results in Pressure sores care and management being capable of affecting a wide verity of patients falling under different age groups but being limited to over exerting pressure to a specific pressure point on the body. These results in the skin lacking free blood flow due to the pressure blocking the nurse resulting in dead tissue bad ultimate the sores developing on the pressure point.
Data Generation Strategies
Data Generation has become a common term used by many professionals today but while most data is collected from previous research and statistics so as to determine current trends, the medical fraternity must evaluate each case individually. This makes it important to collect day but also use the information to identify possible outcomes and patient care an individual may require improving their health. Data can easily be generated via the internet as well as compiling the information directly from medical professionals, Nurses, and patients using questions.
This information can then be organized appropriately and be used to identify suitable approached a medical professional or nurse may consider while evaluating and planning patients care(Rehm, Bale, Bayrak-Toydemir, Berg, Brown, & Deignan, 2013). Evaluation, treatment, and care of the patient must also not be limited to the data collected from the previous publications only and the individual should consider developing a unique evolution treatment and care plan after evaluation the patient’s current medical condition. There are also other factors which influence how the patient is cared for such as other existing medical condition such as diabetes which could complicate treatment and healing of the Pressure sores care and management on a patient.
Data Analysis
After the generation and collection of data related to pressure sore evolution and care it’s important to also master data analysis strategies which will allow the medical professional better evaluate the patients. While there are many tools which can be used to analyzed data collected data analysis must also be counter checked with the patient current care and rehabilitation(Ott & Longnecker, 2015). This is important as it will allow the medical practitioner and nurses evaluate the patient current status which can be compared to expected results to determine areas which may require additional attention and care. Manual as well as automated Data analysis must be conducted during patient evolution which will help deliver the most accurate results and deliver the best approaches linked to patient care.
Addressing Ethical Issues
It’s also important for the medical staff and nurses to also consider ethical issues linked to caring for the patient suffering from Pressure sores care and management. This is due to Pressure sores care and management having a tendency of developing on certain private parts of the patient thus the care given must maintain a high eve loss ethics(Holloway & Galvin, 2016). The nurse and medical staff must, therefore, ensure each ethical issues linked to the patient's care is addressed to avoid attracting complications among the affected patients.
Conclusion
The occurrence of pressure sore is on the rise among people today and this is mainly linked to lack of information and knowledge linked to the care required to manage the Pressure sores care and management. To help reduce and manage the occurrence of Pressure sores care and management it is critical that the patient, as well as their families and public in general, are properly educated regarding the medical condition. Pressure sore develops due to over straining and applying to mush pressure on certain points of the body which can be easily avoided if proper care is given and Pressure sores care and management are identified at an early stage so as to prevent their progression to an advanced stage which complicates the treatment process.
References
Allen, A. K. (2012). Research Skills for Medical Students. London: SAGE.
Alvesson, M., & Sköldberg, K. (2009). Reflexive methodology: New vistas for qualitative research. Los Angeles: SAGE.
Gillespie, B. M., McInnes, E., Kent, B., Whitty, J. A., & Thalib, L. (2014). Repositioning for pressure ulcer prevention in adults. The Cochrane Library.
Holloway, I., & Galvin, K. (2016). Qualitative research in nursing and healthcare. John Wiley & Sons.
Levine, S. M., Sinno, S., Levine, J. P., & Saadeh, P. B. (2013). Current thoughts for the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers: using the evidence to determine fact or fiction. Annals of surgery.
Ng, S. F., Hui, C. L., Chan, H. L., & Wong, M. S. (2014). A study of the pressure reliving garment for prevention of Pressure sores care and management. Chrischurch: Conference Paper.
Ott, R. L., & Longnecker, M. T. (2015). An introduction to statistical methods and data analysis. Nelson Education.
Rehm, H. L., Bale, S. J., Bayrak-Toydemir, P., Berg, J. S., Brown, K. K., & Deignan, J. L. (2013). ACMG clinical laboratory standards for next-generation sequencing. Genetics in Medicine.
ScholarlyEditions. (2012). Pressure Ulcer: New Insights for the Healthcare Professional: 2011 Edition: ScholarlyPaper. Atlanta: Scholarly Papers.
