Posted: November 15th, 2023

Community Nursing for the Care of Older People with Chronic Illnesses

Community Nursing for the Care of Older People with Chronic Illnesses

Community nursing is a vital service that provides care and support to older people with chronic illnesses in their homes or other settings. Community nurses help older people manage their health conditions, prevent complications, and improve their quality of life. In this blog post, we will discuss the role and benefits of community nursing, the challenges and opportunities for community nursing practice, and some recommendations for future research and policy.

The Role and Benefits of Community Nursing

Community nursing is based on the principles of holistic care, patient-centeredness, and collaboration. Community nurses assess the needs and preferences of older people with chronic illnesses, and provide individualized care plans that address their physical, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects of health. Community nurses also work closely with other health professionals, such as physicians, social workers, pharmacists, and physiotherapists, to coordinate and integrate care across different settings and levels. Community nurses also act as advocates, educators, and facilitators for older people and their caregivers, helping them access resources, navigate the health system, and cope with their illness burden [1].

Community nursing has many benefits for older people with chronic illnesses and their caregivers. Community nursing can improve health outcomes, such as reducing hospitalizations, emergency visits, complications, and mortality [2]. Community nursing can also enhance patient satisfaction, self-management, adherence, and empowerment [3]. Community nursing can also reduce caregiver burden, stress, and depression [4]. Moreover, community nursing can lower health care costs by providing efficient and effective care in the community [5].

The Challenges and Opportunities for Community Nursing Practice

Community nursing faces many challenges in providing care for older people with chronic illnesses. Some of these challenges include:

– The increasing complexity and diversity of older people’s needs and preferences
– The lack of standardized guidelines and protocols for community nursing practice
– The shortage of qualified and competent community nurses
– The insufficient funding and resources for community nursing services
– The limited recognition and support for community nursing from policy makers and stakeholders [1]

However, community nursing also has many opportunities to improve its practice and impact. Some of these opportunities include:

– The growing evidence base and innovation for community nursing interventions
– The advancement of technology and telehealth for community nursing delivery
– The development of interprofessional and interdisciplinary collaboration for community nursing care
– The promotion of patient engagement and empowerment for community nursing outcomes
– The advocacy of policy change and system reform for community nursing recognition and support [1]

Recommendations for Future Research and Policy

To enhance the quality and effectiveness of community nursing for older people with chronic illnesses, more research and policy efforts are needed. Some of these recommendations are:

– To conduct more rigorous and comprehensive studies on the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, feasibility, acceptability, and sustainability of community nursing interventions for older people with chronic illnesses [2]
– To develop more evidence-based guidelines and protocols for community nursing practice that are tailored to the specific needs and preferences of older people with chronic illnesses [3]
– To implement more strategies to recruit, train, retain, and support community nurses who have the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values to provide holistic and patient-centered care for older people with chronic illnesses [4]
– To allocate more funding and resources to community nursing services that reflect the value and impact of community nursing on health outcomes, patient satisfaction, caregiver well-being, and health care costs [5]
– To engage more policy makers and stakeholders in the development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of community nursing policies and programs that recognize and support the role and contribution of community nursing to the health system [1]

Conclusion

Community nursing is a key service that provides care and support to older people with chronic illnesses in their homes or other settings. Community nursing has many benefits for older people’s health outcomes, patient satisfaction, caregiver well-being, and health care costs. However, community nursing also faces many challenges in its practice. More research and policy efforts are needed to improve the quality and effectiveness of community nursing for older people with chronic illnesses.

References

[1] O’Connor S., Deaton C., Nolan F., Johnston B. (2018). Nursing in an age of multimorbidity. BMC Nursing 17:49. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-018-0321-z

[2] Boehmer K.R., Holland D.E., Vanderboom C.E. (2019). Identifying and addressing gaps in the implementation of a community care team for care of patients with multiple chronic conditions. BMC Health Services Research 19:843. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-4709-6

[3] Synapse K.M. (2017). The final model is the Chronic Care Model (CCM) is a physician-designed,
patient-centered systems approach for providing safe effective care to older adults with chronic diseases and fluctuating health statuses. https://synapse.koreamed.org/articles/1003133

[4] Lee Y., Shin S.J., Wang R.H., Lin K.D., Lee Y.L., Wang Y.H. (2012). Caregivers burden of older adults with chronic illnesses in the community write my nursing thesis: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Community Health 37(3): 584-592. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-012-9576-6

[5] Nursing Answers (2021). Analyzing the lifestyle of older adults living with chronic illnesses. https://nursinganswers.net/case-studies/analyzing-the-lifestyle-of-older-adults-living-with-chronic-illnesses.php

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