Body Changes Nursing Implications

BREATHING
 Older persons experience difficulty of
breathing during strenuous activities as
they get tired easily.
HEART BEAT/ BLOOD PRESSURE
 Heart diseases and hypertension is
prevalent among the older persons
interviewed.
 Some maintain a normal blood pressure.
MOVEMENT
 Movements start to become slow and
painful (ankles, knees) as they aged.
 Some started using assistive devices like
canes to make moving easier and more
convenient.
 Cramps are frequently experienced and
some have noticed that they “grow
smaller”
MEMORY
 Some of the older persons start to
experience difficulty in remembering
where they placed certain objects.
 Some still remain sharp and still has good
memory.
LANGUAGE/ COMMUNICATION
 One said that she sometimes stutters
words and she sometimes cannot find the
right words to be used.
HAIR CHANGES
 Their hair starts to grey.
 Some remarked that they experienced
thinning of their hair.
VISION
 Older persons start to use eyeglasses as
they experience blurring of vision.
 Some developed cataracts.
HEARING
 Some experienced difficulty in hearing for
the past years.
MOUTH/ TEETH
 Older persons start to use dentures.
 Some experience difficulty chewing food.
TASTE
 Some have cravings and dislikes in a
specific time.
SKIN/ TOUCH  According to Smeltzer and Bare, the skin
  Some of the older persons were more
prone to having skin allergies/ rashes.
 Older persons started to have wrinkled
and dry skin.
normally changes as one ages. These
changes can be brought about by
excessive sun exposure, systemic diseases,
poor nutrition and the use of medications.
Because of this, older persons
experiencing more changes in the
integumentary system are more prone to
having injuries and skin diseases. As a
nurse, it is important to know and
understand the major changes that occur
in the skins of older persons. Some of the
major changes include: dryness, wrinkling,
uneven pigmentation, various proliferative
lesions, increased vulnerability to trauma,
loss of subcutaneous tissue substances,
slowed cellular replacement, vascular
changes and decreased numbers of sweat
and subcutaneous glands.

BODY FAT
 For females, they perceive that they
become ‘fatter” and they are gaining
weight.
 For males, they were thinner than before.
BODY RESISTANCE
 Sometimes catches a cold.
 One remarked that she seldom catches
cold but when she does, it lasts longer (1
month) than when she was young.
OTHERS
 Some can get easily irritated and angry
with their grandchildren.
 One wants to be kept occupied as he feels
weak when doing nothing.
 Regarding sleep, one said that she
experience a hard time falling asleep yet
she still awakens early. (shorter amount of
sleep)