As a person ages, his physical and cognitive functions slow down, limiting his abilities, activity, and mind. External aging characteristics are weak bones, wrinkles, and rough skin, while cognitive ones include poor memory, loss of endurance, and flexibility. Older people become weaker, allowing younger individuals to judge and insult them. Nursing should overcome contempt for the old and enhance empathetic understanding to improve their well-being.
Old age leads to struggles with physical limitations such as joint diseases causing problems with going upstairs. When people interact with the old, they sometimes get stressed by their condition, causing abuse and a negative attitude toward them. As others do not realize their aging, they make the old abuse victims. The fact that the old are forced to drink a beverage using a straw makes people scared of aging (Jeong & Kwon, 2021). Moreover, a person’s visual and auditory dysfunctions make him unable to comprehend the world the way the youth does, raising anxiety in some individuals. This way, physical dysfunctions cause negative emotional responses from people.
The number of older people experiencing cognitive decline is increasing, generating high demand for geriatric nursing. Understanding the conditions of older adults improves nurses’ empathy because sometimes they lack awareness of the old’s struggles. Unlike a middle-aged adult, the old cannot perform many actions independently due to some pain or limitations (Jeong & Kwon, 2021). Besides, nurses should avoid hurting the old’s feelings with overprotection because they are more susceptible than adults. Thus, when nurses understand the physical and psychological abilities of the old without any prejudices, they establish mutual support.
To conclude, aging causes health issues, deteriorates a person’s cognitive abilities, and brings physical discomfort. When the old cannot move independently, communicate, and understand others, they become a reason for irritation, stress, and fear. Psychological shock and abuse are the consequences that the youth can prevent by being gentler and more attentive towards older people. Geriatric nursing increases awareness of older people’s conditions to help them.
Reference
Jeong, H., & Kwon, H. (2021). Long-term effects of an aging suit experience on nursing college students. Nurse Education in Practice, 50(2).