Posted: September 30th, 2024

Nurse Practitioner to Improve Outcomes for Geriatric Patients Essay

Nurse Practitioner to Improve Outcomes for Geriatric Patients Paper.

Emergency care is one of the key areas of concern when it comes to geriatric patients. The unique needs of this population require specialized care that is tailored to their age-related health issues. On the one hand, elderly patients are more vulnerable to the risks of hospitalization and hospital readmission due to their age. This vulnerability is exacerbated by the fact that older adults often have multiple chronic conditions that require complex management. On the other hand, the emergency care delivered to this group of patients should be readjusted and tailored to their unique health and wellness needs. A more holistic approach to care is necessary to address the physical, emotional, and social needs of geriatric patients.

Elderly individuals admitted to emergency departments (EDs) typically require more comprehensive and holistic approaches to care than their younger counterparts. However, the fast-paced environment of the ED can make it challenging to provide the level of care that geriatric patients require. However, ED physicians are not always positioned to address the peculiar health needs of older adults. This is due in part to the fact that ED physicians often have limited training in gerontology and may not have the necessary expertise to manage the complex needs of older adults.

The issue to be considered in this project ( help with nursing paper writing from experts with MSN & DNP degrees) is the quality of emergency care provided to the elderly and the role of an adult-gerontology nurse practitioner in improving outcomes for the geriatric patients admitted to the ED. The use of adult-gerontology nurse practitioners in the ED has the potential to improve the quality of care provided to geriatric patients and reduce healthcare costs.

The issue of emergency care for geriatric patients is significant for several reasons. One of the primary reasons is that the number of elderly patients admitted to EDs is increasing due to the aging of the population. To begin with, due to changing population demographics, the number of elderly patients admitted to EDs continues to increase. According to McCabe and Kennelly (2015), “patients aged 65 years and over account for approximately 20% of emergency department (ED) presentations. This trend is expected to continue, with the number of elderly patients admitted to EDs project ( help with nursing paper writing from experts with MSN & DNP degrees)ed to increase substantially in the coming decades.

By 2030, every fourth Medicare beneficiary will be 85 years and older, and it is likely that older patients will make up to 70 percent of all emergency readmissions in the healthcare system (McCabe & Kennelly, 2015). The implications of this trend are significant, as it will require a fundamental shift in the way that emergency care is delivered to geriatric patients. The situation is further aggravated by the growing number of elderly people with chronic conditions and related comorbidities, which contribute to the burden of emergency care in the U.S. As a result, EDs will need to adapt to meet the increasing demand for emergency care services.

As such, ED nurses must be ready to manage the growing number of geriatric patients who are admitted to emergency care. This will require specialized training and education in gerontology, as well as a commitment to providing high-quality, patient-centered care. Furthermore, elderly clients who arrive to EDs typically require more complex and sophisticated care, as compared with their younger counterparts. They often have multiple chronic conditions that require complex management, and may be taking multiple medications that can interact with each other.

They utilize proportionally more services in EDs, as compared with other age groups (Boltz et al., 2013; Ellis, Marshall, & Ritchie, 2014). This can result in longer hospital stays and higher healthcare costs. Whenever a geriatric patient is admitted to an ED, he or she will stay longer, require more diagnostic tests, and experience higher hospital admission rates than younger patients (Boltz et al., 2013). This can be challenging for EDs, as it requires a significant amount of resources and can impact the quality of care provided to other patients.

Older adults brought to EDs are usually sicker than younger patients, which is why they have higher rates of hospital readmissions due to more frequent exacerbations of chronic conditions or the development of new comorbidities (Ellis et al., 2014). This highlights the need for EDs to have specialized programs and services in place to manage the complex needs of geriatric patients. The costs of managing geriatric patients in the ED are also higher than those of younger patients (Ellis et al., 2014), and even when adequate care is provided, these clients are still likely to have poorer health outcomes as compared with patients from other age groups.

Finally, the growing number of older patients necessitates the development of new models of care. One potential solution is the use of adult-gerontology nurse practitioners in the ED, who can provide specialized care to geriatric patients. Here, Hwang et al. (2013) speak of the need to redesign emergency service settings in ways that would improve the quality of geriatric emergency care. This could involve creating specialized geriatric EDs or implementing geriatric-focused care pathways.

Hwang et al. (2013) even used the term “geriatricizing” EDs, implying that the current systems and models of emergency care fail to meet the health needs of geriatric patients. This highlights the need for a fundamental shift in the way that emergency care is delivered to geriatric patients. Therefore, it is important to revisit the relevance of including an adult-gerontology advanced nurse practitioner instead of an ED physician to close the existing gaps in care and ensure smooth provision of high-quality emergency assistance to geriatric clients.

The goal of the proposed project ( help with nursing paper writing from experts with MSN & DNP degrees) is to improve the quality and accessibility of the nursing care provided to geriatric patients in EDs. This will involve evaluating the effectiveness of adult-gerontology nurse practitioners in improving health outcomes for geriatric patients. More specifically, the aim of the project ( help with nursing paper writing from experts with MSN & DNP degrees) is to evaluate the feasibility of replacing ED physicians with adult-gerontology nurse practitioners to provide emergency care to elderly clients. This will require a comprehensive review of the literature and the development of a detailed project ( help with nursing paper writing from experts with MSN & DNP degrees) plan.

It is expected that an adult-gerontology nurse practitioner working in an ED will be better positioned to streamline the delivery of holistic care to geriatric patients. This is because adult-gerontology nurse practitioners have specialized training and education in gerontology, which enables them to provide high-quality, patient-centered care to geriatric patients.

The following PICOT question will need to be answered: “In patients 65 years of age or older (P), how does employing an adult Gerontology Nurse Practitioner in an emergency department (I) compared to an emergency department physician(C) influence their health outcomes and readmission (O) after the emergency department visit (T)?” This question will guide the development of the project ( help with nursing paper writing from experts with MSN & DNP degrees) and ensure that the results are relevant and meaningful.

In other words, the project ( help with nursing paper writing from experts with MSN & DNP degrees) is intended to compare the quality of care provided by an adult Gerontology Nurse Practitioner to the care delivered by an ED physician. This will involve evaluating the effectiveness of adult-gerontology nurse practitioners in improving health outcomes for geriatric patients and reducing healthcare costs.

The selected issue will have far-reaching implications for the cost and outcomes of geriatric care. The results of the project ( help with nursing paper writing from experts with MSN & DNP degrees) will inform the development of new models of care that can improve the quality and accessibility of emergency care for geriatric patients.

The costs of healthcare in the U.S. continue to escalate, as more seniors seek emergency nursing assistance across hospital facilities. This trend is expected to continue, with the number of elderly patients admitted to EDs project ( help with nursing paper writing from experts with MSN & DNP degrees)ed to increase substantially in the coming decades. The growing demand for these services is further supplemented by the unprecedented complexity of the testing and diagnostic procedures required for this group of patients (Hwang et al., 2013). As a result, EDs will need to adapt to meet the increasing demand for emergency care services.

Adult gerontology nurse practitioners can be better positioned than ED physicians to identify the needs of elderly clients and organize the care process in ways that minimize its costs and enhance health outcomes. This is because adult-gerontology nurse practitioners have specialized training and education in gerontology, which enables them to provide high-quality, patient-centered care to geriatric patients. For instance, they may avoid ordering unnecessary tests. This can help to reduce healthcare costs and improve health outcomes for geriatric patients.

Likewise, these specialists may have the education and training needed to speed up the provision of quality care, thus reducing the risks of complications and hospital readmissions in the future. This highlights the need for EDs to have specialized programs and services in place to manage the complex needs of geriatric patients.

New models of care have the potential to improve the quality of nursing assistance provided to geriatric patients in emergency departments. One potential solution is the use of adult-gerontology nurse practitioners in the ED, who can provide specialized care to geriatric patients. They can also optimize the costs of such care while ensuring better health outcomes for elderly clients. More research is needed to see if an adult-gerontology nurse practitioner can provide better services to geriatric patients admitted to EDs, as compared with ED physicians.

References.
de Leede-Brunsveld, S. F. M., Bleijenberg, N., Verhoef, J., Holtkamp, C., & Van Vught, J. A. H. (2023). Nurse practitioners in community health care: a rapid scoping review of their role, tasks, responsibilities, and implementation in Northwest Europe. Health & Social Care in the Community, 2023(1), 6678458.

Boltz, M., Capezuti, E., & Fulmer, T. T. (Eds.). (2024). Evidence-based geriatric nursing protocols for best practice. Springer Publishing Company.
Bogan, C. J., & Reifsnider, E. (2024). Home-Based Care as a New Medical Model: An Opportunity for Nurse Practitioners. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 20(4), 104941.

Turi, E., McMenamin, A., Kueakomoldej, S., Kurtzman, E., & Poghosyan, L. (2023). The effectiveness of nurse practitioner care for patients with mental health conditions in primary care settings: A systematic review. Nursing Outlook, 71(4), 101995.

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Tags: Adult-gerontology nurse practitioner, Cost-effectiveness, Emergency Department, Geriatric Care, healthcare outcomes