Geriatric nurse assessment. A model of register in nursing home care
Vallejo Sánchez J.M., Rodríguez Palma M., Valverde Sánchez Mª.M.

SUMMARY

Introduction and aim: In the area of the nursing home care, it is important to have an overall vision of the elderly and of the active aging to retard the dependence and to promote functional capacity and autonomy. From a interdisciplinary approach, we consider to elaborate an instrument of nurse assessment, based on the conceptual model of Virginia Henderson and complemented with validated tests and scales, that allow us to detect the needs of the elder, to consider the risk of geriatric syndromes appearance and to plan the suitable care.

Methods: Creation of workgroup, establishment of aims by consensus, bibliographical review, development of elaboration's criteria, coordination with the rest of the staff and validation of the document.

Results: We obtain a nurse assessment register for elder institutionalized in nursing home care, of 8 pages, with opened and closed items, based on the model of Virginia Henderson's 14 needs and supported by nine scales of valuation, with its own cumplimentation guide.

Conclusions: The time used in the geriatric nurse assessment is a necessary investment to assure a suitable and adequate assistance. It represents a useful tool for the nurses and the rest of the staff, as it allows to individualize the care, to quantify the disabilities and to provide the most adapted level of assistance to every single resident.

KEY WORDS

    Geriatric nurse assessment, elder, nursing home care, register.

Vol. 18 nº2-2007