1.

What gerontological nursing competencies seem to be absent from the practice of the nurses Nurse

Haley describes?

Geriatric nurses are educated to understand and treat the often complex physical and
mental health needs of older people. They try to help their patients protect their health and cope
with changes in their mental and physical abilities, so older people can stay independent and active
as long as possible. On the contrary, whom Nurse Haley describes, the practice of nurses who have
worked on the unit for many years is the opposite, instead they address comments and questions to
these patients’ children  rather  than  directly  to  the  patients, address them in a child-like manner,
tend not to inquire about their lifestyles and preferences, assume  they have sedate lives, and omit
the discussion of topics that they do discuss with younger patients, such as sexual activity, exercise,
resuming work activities, and using alternative and complementary therapies. Moreover, Geriatric
nurses must enjoy working with older people. They must be patient, listen extremely carefully and
balance the needs of their patients with sometimes conflicting demands from family members. The
competencies that are absent where nurses failed to respect the individuality and rights of older
patients and could jeopardize the quality of care they are afforded are the maximizing of the adults
health outcome, effective communication, facilitating choices within legal and ethical frameworks,
partnering with family carers, promoting mental health and psychological wellbeing, living well for
older people across communities and groups.

2. What are some of the factors that could have contributed to the nurses’ behaviors?

As Nurse Haley describes, the factor that contributed to the nurse’s behaviors is their years
of work experience in nursing. Because of the time they spend in caring for older adults they have
experience a range of workplace challenges including physical difficulties, tiredness and fatigue,
being treated differently, and lack of respect and opportunities. Especially when this involves older
adults, nurses encounters different patients where in some might be stubborn, have mental health
concerns or simply think it's a sign of weakness to accept help. Others might also be worried about
the cost of certain types of care. Memory loss might also make it difficult for their loved one to
understand why he or she needs help. Being nurse for this kind of patients and was able to stay for
longer years really affects their behaviors because of the challenges they face in their everyday life
for caring older adults and also their sacrifices just to understand their patients.

3. How should Nurse Haley address the problems she observes to promote good gerontological
nursing practice?

Nurse Haley can collaborate with the Nursing administrators as they play an important role in
preventing nursing errors. They're able to create changes to the environment that encourage nurses to
control their own practice. Working with nurse educators and embracing a nurse residency program can
foster learning for this kind of nurses. This can help them realize that their ways of caring was wrong
and needs to be addressed immediately so that other nurses will not follow that kind of behavior and
also to not scare of have a negative impacts to the patients. In the Patient Safety and Quality
Improvement Act of 2005, this encourages voluntary and confidential reporting of any event that may
adversely affect patients. Speak your facility's risk management department about disclosure; they
specialize in the process, have knowledge of your facility's policies, and this can assist you with the most
appropriate way to handle the situation. If this wrong behavior of nurses continues then this can ruin
the reputation of the hospital. Therefore, Nurse Haley can positively approach that nurses and address
their wrong doing and be honest all the time. Nurses also need words of wisdom to help them continue
to push through to their profession and remind them the importance of their work and how important
they are to their patients.