Nursing care in gerontology

Starost je starija dob karakterizirana fiziološkim promjenama te specifičnom socijalnom ulogom. Gerontologija je znanstvena disciplina koja proučava starost kao kronološku dob sa specifičnostima u socijalnoj ulozi pojedinca. 2013. godine Ministarstvo zdravstva imenovalo je Referentni centar za zaštitu zdravlja starijih osoba koji provodi gerontološku javnozdravstvenu djelatnost. Gerontološka sestrinska skrb dinamičan je proces između starije osobe i medicinske sestre koji se objašnjava u brojnim teoretskim konceptima od kojih je najpoznatiji Roper – Juchli i V. Fiechter – M. Meier. Budući da je sestrinska skrb u gerontologiji, odnosno gerijatrijska / gerontološka zdravstvena njega u Hrvatskoj u povojima, gerontološku skrb provode medicinske sestre na svim razinama zdravstvene zaštite analogno razini obrazovanja. Sestrinska skrb podijeljena je na skrb u bolničkim ustanovama, skrb u vlastitom domu te skrb u ustanovama trajnog boravka. Sestrinska skrb za starije osobe najvećim djelom provodi se na primarnoj razini zdravstvene zaštite. U ovom radu biti će prikazana gerontološka sestrinska skrb u svijetu, teorije sestrinske skrbi, odrednice gerijatrijske / gerontološke zdravstvene njege, kompetencije gerijatrijske / gerontološke medicinske sestre, organizacija sestrinske skrbi u Hrvatskoj te uloga sestre u gerontologiji.An age, as an old age is characterized by physiological changes and a specific social role. Gerontology is a scientific discipline that studies age as a chronological age with specifics in the social role of an individual. The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia, in the year 2013, established the Reference Centre for Health Care of Elderly People which implements public health activities in the field of gerontology. Gerontological nursing care is a dynamic process between the elders and nurses, being the main topic of interest of various theoretical concepts, most notably Roper / Juchli and V. Fiechter - M. Meier. Since the gerontology nursing care, i.e. geriatric/gerontology nursing care in Croatia has just been profiled as a scientific and practical discipline, gerontological nursing care is implemented by nurses at all levels of health care, analogue to the level of their education. Nursing care is divided to care in hospital facilities, home-care and is divided to care in society and in institutions providing full accommodation. Nursing care for elderly people is mostly based on primary health care. In this paper, I am going to present global gerontology nursing care practice, nursing care theories, geriatrics / gerontology nursing care principles, geriatric / gerontology nurse competencies, nursing care organization in Croatia and nurse's role in gerontology