Basic concepts of nursing in gerontological care following V. Henderson's Model
Vernet Aguiló F.

SUMMARY

Nowadays, elderly people care has become an extremely dynamic field as it is changing both in the patient's needs and in the professional requests needed to provide the right answers in a modern environment, which is extremely linked to scientific, legal, familiar, health and political changes.

Within the multidisciplinary team, in the specific fields of gerontology and community care, the nurse is the unquestionable leader, as this is the only qualified professional who is trained to follow a whole care plan aimed at every patient. Nursing models give us the system of values which infirmary follows to perform their task, estimate health problems and plans its specific objectives, either individually or when collaborating with other professionals of health.

The values and postulates of Henderson model are specially adapted to gerontology and make the model comprehensible and compatible with interdisciplinary objectives, reinforcing the nurse's leadership in the care team.

The purpose of this work is to provide a gerontologist vision of the main concepts of Henderson model and care processes of infirmary, based on the reflection about clinical practice.

KEY WORDS

   Nursing, gerontology, concept, process, Henderson.

Vol. 18 nº2-2007