In this article, we are going to be talking about the medical emergencies one can expect in elderly persons.
Medical emergency is a situation is a situation in which a client requires immediate medical treatment to prevent further body damage or death. Whoever is working with an elderly must be ready for emergency because of the unpredictable nature of the health condition of the elderly.
Emergency Nursing
Medical emergency is defined as any sudden illness or injury that is perceived by the client or significant others as requiring immediate intervention. The emergency continues until the condition is stable or no longer threatens the client’s integrity or well being.
Emergency nursing care is defined as the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of perceived actual or potential sudden or urgent physical or psychological problems that are primarily episodic or acute. These may require minimal care or life support measures.
Emergency Preparations
the preparation for emergency by the nurse for an elderly person depends on the medical and physical condition of the elderly. For instance the nurse caring for an elderly who is on insulin injection have in mind that the client stands a chance of insulin reaction after the injection.
It is the duty of the nurse caring for an elderly person to identify the type of emergency that may occur in each of the elderly and not only prepare for it but also educate the client and the caregivers on how to prevent it or care for them if they occur.
An important way to be prepared for emergency in the elderly is to let the elderly and their caregivers know who and when to call for help. If the elderly is cared for at home, the caregiver should be educated on how to recognize danger signs and who to call.
The family should know the phone numbers of the following;
- The nurse
- The ambulance service
- The casualty department of the local hospital
- The poison control centre if any
- The family doctor if any.
The family should also know the person receiving the call will need the following information;
- The name of the caller
- The exact location and nature of emergency
- The telephone number of the caller
- In brief, all the information the caller has about the situation.
- The general condition of the elderly
- The type of first aid the victim is receiving.
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Medical Emergency Tray
in all nursing practice some sort of emergency supply kits or tray are kept.
Being prepared for emergency means making sure that everything in the tray is working and up to date.
The drugs should not be expired drugs. If the care is in the institution, the tray who works in the practice must have access to it.
It is the duty of the nurse to make sure that there is a backup supply and to check the expiring dates of the drugs. The nurse should also make sure that the items are used only for emergencies and they are replaced immediately afterwards.
Nursing Emergency
The following steps are done during emergency;
Assessment
When faced with emergency condition of the elderly the nurse should first gain as much information and as quickly as possible.
This information provides clues to the urgency of the situation and treatment priority. If the elderly has been under the care of the nurse, it will be easier to know health problems such as hypertension, myocardial infarction diabetes and much more.
Establishing Priorities
From the initial assessment the principles of triage is applied. The priorities are of the following order;
- Significant alteration in vital signs eg hypertension, hypothermia, hyperthermia, respiratory difficulty cardiac dysarhythmia.
- Altered level of consciousness.
- Severe pains
- Bleeding not controlled by direct pressure
- Condition that will worsen from delay in treatment eg chemical burns, drug over dose.
- Disruptive behaviour
- Sexual assault
- Symptoms that are vague but cause the nurse some concern.
Nursing Intervention
This depends on the condition presented by the elderly. The general nursing training has equipped every nurse with the knowledge on how to intervene in all medical emergencies.
It should be noted that emergency preparedness involves the nurse updating his/her knowledge in the nursing intervention in emergency.
We hope this information was helpful. Feel free to ask your questions in the comment section below.