Topics

• History
• Functional Assessment
• Immunizations, Screenings and Health Promotion
• Physical Exam

NDNP 819: Advanced Health Assessment Across the Lifespan

Module 10: Geriatrics

Overview

The purpose of this module is to provide you with an introduction to the assessment of older adults. Older adults have multiple concerns including home functioning, co-morbidities, polypharmacy, and social support deficits. The APN regardless of clinical setting needs to have knowledge about effective history taking, and normal age related changes versus abnormal findings in this population. It is a different focus from the disease-oriented approach of history-taking and physical exam of younger patients; rather it is on healthy or “successful” aging. The APN can mobilize family, social, and community supports, recognize the importance of functional assessments and has the opportunities for promoting older adult’s long-term health and safety.

Objectives

By the end of the session, the Advanced Practice Nurse DNP student will be able to:

• Collect complete history data on older adults
• Apply evidence-based recommendations for health promotion, screening and immunizations for older adults.
• Detail physical exam variations for older adults.

Required Readings

• Bickley, L.S. (2017). BATES’s Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking (12th ed.). Philadelphia PA: Wolters Kluwer. ISBN: 978-1-4698-9341-9. Chapter 20, pages 955-1008
• History and Physical Examination of Older Adults

• Normal Physiological Changes Associated with Aging
• Assessing Dementia Using Mental Status Exam