Saving the Elderly: Implications and Principles (Research Paper Sample)

Saving the Elderly
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Abstract
With age, people struggle with several medical conditions, including organ failure, lifestyle diseases, and many more. One condition that many suffer from is breathing failure. Medical practitioners need to be prepared to handle such situations in and out of their respective facilities. Two solutions used by healthcare workers to solve the issue are CPR and assisted ventilation. The main goal is to figure out which among hands-only CPR and assisted ventilation in the better practice to be done to save the elderly and reduce mortality among the population. The elderly are at a higher risk of death, and these two practices are better suited to avoid mortality. The post highlights implications that might develop when the two practices are utilized. How hands-only CPR compares to assisted ventilation. The implications and effectiveness are realized when each is applied. It also considers the need to improve the quality of services offered, the patients’ health, policies involved, and how effective both practices are at reducing mortality. Some keywords applied in the post include; hands-only CPR, assisted ventilation, mortality or mortality rate, resuscitation, elderly population, nursing and patient oriented. The post also identifies the nurses’ roles and the improvement recognized after the practices are applied. At a medical facility or anywhere medical equipment can be accessed, it is wiser to use assisted ventilation on the elderly. Assisted ventilation is thus a better way of service to elder people when preventing mortality.
Saving the Elderly
Life is a precious commodity and should be enjoyed up to the last breath we draw. Due to this, it is important to have information, practices, and access to ways to ensure people live longer. One of the main challenges to this is age. People might live for many decades, but age gets to them in one way or another and causes some medical conditions that might be irreversible. It is critical for all medical personnel to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to save the elderly. One of the fields healthcare workers need to be trained in is how to offer CPR and assisted ventilation. Both practices work to a certain level, but the question at hand is, in elderly adults, how effective is hands-on CPR versus assisted ventilation (hands plus breathing) CPR at preventing mortality?
Literature Review
The question at hand is meant to determine the best practice applicable in nursing and healthcare for the elderly. The best source of information to answer the question at hand is through reviewing various literature developed after studies and investigations were carried out and conclusions made. The details will provide evidence on which among the two practices, hands-only CPR and assisted ventilation, is the better practice to avoid mortality for the elderly.
Hands-only CPR
One of the practices is carried out to help people breathe through hands-only CPR. Hands-only CPR is defined as physical cardiopulmonary resuscitation. According to Nebsbjerb et al. (2018), the practice is mainly applied during emergencies such as heart attacks, near drowning situations, and the elderly. The main goal is to help the heart pump blood and the lungs to start breathing. Since the elderly face both risks, CPR is a great alternative to have to save them from dying.
Assisted Ventilation
On the other hand, assisted ventilation refers to when an external source or force is used to help a person breathe in and out. What this means is that the external source might be the only reason why the patient is breathing. They might not have the power to breathe independently if they did not have the ventilator connected to them. Assisted ventilation is used when people do not have respiratory control or are a risk of breathing failure.
Implications
Although hands-only CPR is effective when dealing with medical emergencies and might be the difference between life and death for the patient, it might fall short when dealing with the elderly compared to assisted ventilation. The elderly facing breathing failure is at constant risk of death. Since saving them is the end goal, the required measures and practices should be as effective as possible. If anything more can be done to save their lives, it should be done. Assisted breathing where technology is applied might help save the patient from imminent death. Air gets in the lungs as the healthcare worker focuses on the chest to increase blood flow and air circulation in the body. A research carried out by Segal et al. (2018), tried to figure out if resuscitation is effective in saving lives and the best practices to be applied, and the best practices to be carried out. Since saving the patients’ life is the goal, any extra help available should be utilized. What this means is that assisted ventilation should be applied to increase effectiveness to avoid death. The reasoning is that if assisted ventilation is applied, there is assurance that air gets in and out of the lungs, considering that old age might affect the breathing system making it less effective.
Principles
Several principles should be considered for there to be a plan or a guide to what to do. The first is principle is quality improvement. Quality improvement refers to the practice's ability to improve the quality of healthcare services required by a patient. The practiced picked as the best practice should improve the quality of service by ensuring a higher percentage in efficiency when resuscitating the elderly. According to McCradden et al. (2020), some of the principles related to this specific question include; the first is that the practices carried out should be focused on the consumer. The consumer, in this case, is the elderly person suffering from either breathing or heart failure and needs to be helped or else they will die. The services provided should be focused on how to help them effectively and avoid death. Hands-only CPR might be helpful, but it would not be the most efficient practice to save a life. Assisted ventilation on the other hand would ensure success in ensuring air gets to the lungs.
The second principle that should be considered is the healthcare policy that affects the practices being offered. Some of the principles that affect the healthcare policies include, the first is that the practices should be centered on the patient. As stated earlier, the main goal should be to save the patients’ lives. The practice that achieves this should be considered to be better than the others. When comparing hands-only CPR and assisted ventilation, assisted ventilation is the best approach as it is focused more on ensuring they survive. The reason as to why this is the case is because oxygen required in the body is supplied without hoping that CPR will be efficient enough to do the job. The second principle is that the services need to provide better quality care for the patient. By quality care means that the patient receives services that will help improve their health condition. Assisted breathing does a better job at providing better resuscitation services to patients compared to hands-only CPR.
The third factor that should be considered is cost-effectiveness. Although mentioned as a healthcare policy principle, some factors should be considered when developing healthcare policies and practices. It is important to consider that some people do not have the funds to pay for their healthcare needs when providing healthcare services. The healthcare services they require might be too expensive for them, limiting their ability to access healthcare services. The principle should consider the age and healthcare needs of the elderly. Due to this, it is easy to understand why hands-only CPR is more cost effective compared to assisted ventilation. No mechanical component is required to provide the services.
Factors Affecting Nursing Care
Some factors that might affect the type and quality of nursing care provided include; the first are the policies set in place by the governing body. The policies include procedures and guidelines to be followed on various practices. When performing resuscitation, the set procedures might impact nursing care. The second factor is that nurses providing nursing services to the elderly will have to utilize the required resources and knowledge available to them. for a nurse to perform resuscitation, they have to find the best practice considering the resources available. If there are ventilators around, it would be the preferable practice to utilize. But when there are no ventilators around, hands-only CPR would be the best approach to take to ensure efficiency. The other factor that might improve nursing services is the training received. Nurses dealing with the elderly should be trained in resuscitation methods that can be applied in different situations. A nurse might offer services when an emergency occurs and there is no medical equipment available, or they might have ventilators available they could utilize.
Patient Care
When resuscitating the elderly, it is critical to ensure that the medical equipment utilized is meant to achieve the best results required. Some things that should be considered include ensuring that the technology utilized in providing assisted ventilation is efficient and can handle the task at hand. Information systems should also be utilized effectively alongside communication devices for better information sharing.
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