Palliative nursing of the elderly

Obsežno staranje prebivalstva in čedalje hitrejši porast pacientov z več napredovalimi kroničnimi boleznimi hitro polnita domove starejših s pacienti, ki potrebujejo paliativno zdravstveno nego in oskrbo. Zaposleni v domovih za starejše potrebujejo specifična znanja za prepoznavanje in obravnavo potreb pacientov, vključenih v paliativno zdravstveno nego, katera pa večinoma pridobivajo neformalno. V diplomskem delu smo predstavili starostnika z njegovimi potrebami in spremembami ter paliativno oskrbo in zdravstveno nego. V empiričnem delu so predstavljeni rezultati raziskave, izvedene v negovalnem timu v Domu starejših Thermana Laško. Podatke za raziskavo smo pridobili s pomočjo anonimnega anketnega vprašalnika, na katerega je odgovarjalo 34 zaposlenih. Z raziskavo smo želeli izvedeti, kako zaposleni ocenjujejo svoje znanje o paliativni zdravstveni negi in oskrbi, kako pogosto se srečujejo s pacienti, ki potrebujejo obravnavo v okviru paliativne zdravstvene nege ter ali pri delu z njimi doživljajo stiske. Polovica zaposlenih meni, da je njihovo znanje zadovoljivo, druga polovica pa jih meni, da je znanje dobro. Več kot polovica se srečuje z umirajočimi pacienti nekajkrat na mesec, skoraj četrtina se z njimi srečuje vsak teden ali še pogosteje. Več kot dve tretjini zaposlenih navaja, da pri delu z umirajočimi doživljajo stiske, večina jih je s stiskami tudi občasno preobremenjena. Iz rezultatov lahko sklepamo, da je dodatno izobraževanje o paliativni zdravstveni negi za zaposlene v domu starejših zelo pomembno.Extensive aging of population and fast increase of chronic patients is charging elderly homes with patients who need palliative care. Employees in nursing homes are in great need for specific knowledge that is mostly obtained informally. They have to recognize and deal with specific needs of palliative patients. In diploma we introduced geriatric patient with its specifics and palliative care with palliative nursing. In empiric part of assignment are presented results of research performed in nursing team in elderly home – Dom starejših Thermana Laško. We got our research data from anonymous questionnaire which was answered by 34 employees Research purpose was to find out how employees rate they knowledge about palliative care, how often they treat palliative patients and if they experience distress. Results show that more than two thirds of employees believe that their knowledge is appropriate, but they obtained it by their self or during their working years. More than half of respondents are working with dying patient several times per monthquarter is meeting them every week or even often. Two thirds of employee’s states that working with dying patients causes distresses, most of them are sometimes feeling overloaded. Results indicate that knowledge about palliative care is mostly learned during working years. From that we can conclude that additional education for employees in elderly home is very important