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Do you feel what I feel? Understanding Sensory Changes in the Aging Population

Do you feel what I feel? Understanding Sensory Changes in the Aging Population. Presenters. Sue Brooks MSN, RN, AOCNS® Clinical Nurse Specialist – ACE Unit and Patient Education Amanda Himes MSN, RN, BC Clinical Nurse Manager- ACE Unit. Acute Care of the Elderly.

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Do you feel what I feel? Understanding Sensory Changes in the Aging Population

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  1. Do you feel what I feel?Understanding Sensory Changes in the Aging Population

  2. Presenters Sue Brooks MSN, RN, AOCNS® Clinical Nurse Specialist – ACE Unit and Patient Education Amanda Himes MSN, RN, BC Clinical Nurse Manager- ACE Unit

  3. Acute Care of the Elderly • Spectrum Health Blodgett Hospital • 21 Bed Inpatient Medical-Surgical Unit • Goal: Maintain the functional status of the older adult during acute hospitalization by focusing on their unique needs • Interdisciplinary Team Approach: Nurse Manager, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Educator, Pharmacist, Dietician, Physicians, Physical/Occupational therapy, Pastoral care, Nursing and Nursing Support

  4. Sensory Changes • Vision • Hearing • Touch • Smell • Taste

  5. Effects of age related sensory changes • Barriers during communication and care • Misinformation • Confusion • Wrong assumptions • Reduced independence • Reduced ability to provide self care • Isolation

  6. Vision • Thicker lens • Loss of elasticity in the lens of the eye • Pupil takes longer to dilate and contract • Reduced pupil size • Visual field becomes smaller • Eyelids start to lag • Decreased upward gaze • Problems with glare • Decrease in color vision

  7. Vision - impact • Inability to adjust to glare and change in lighting conditions • Decrease in eyes ability to change the shape of the lens to focus on near objects • Medication labels • Safety risk for driving and maneuvering in the environment • Increased safety risk in changing environmental light

  8. Hearing • Loss of sensory hair cells and nerve cells • Decreased movement of the bones in ears • Increased dryness of ear wax • Increase in number of coarse hair in the ears • Eardrum thickens • Loss of high frequency hearing • Decreased ability to process sounds after age 50

  9. Hearing - impact • Decreases in sound moving across the ear canal • Decreased ability to hear sounds such as p,w,f,sh and women’s and children’s voices • More time needed to process and respond to sounds • Decreased hearing

  10. Hearing - impact • Decreased quality of communication • Social isolation • Low self-esteem

  11. Hearing - impact • “I went to a table to join four friends. When one of them asked me a question which I could not understand, the other repeated it for me. However, I was still unable to lip read it. They paused while one of them wrote it down. I was aware that the easy going conversation they had been enjoying before my arrival now ended. • Within a few minutes two of them left and after a brief pause the others explained they had pressing engagements. I sat alone.”

  12. Patient Cycle of Hearing Loss Responds inappropriately Is labeled confused Caregiver avoids Becomes frustrated Becomes angry Is labeled uncooperative

  13. Taste • Most changes in taste are due to: • Condition of the mouth • Medications • Decreased number of taste buds • Dry mouth • Decreased sense of smell • Disease • Use of tobacco

  14. Taste - Impact • Decreased sensitivity to flavors • Swallowing ability • Difficulty with cooking • Decreased appetite • Eating spoiled food

  15. Smell • Decrease in nerve fibers associated with smell • Decreased ability to identify odors

  16. Smell - Impact • Impacts ability to taste • Inability to identify spoiled food • Inability to identify smoke or gas leaks • Limits enjoyment in eating • Limits pleasures of everyday life • Smell of spring rain, Christmas tree, flowers, coffee brewing

  17. Touch/sensation • Decreased sensitivity to: • Temperature • Pressure • Touch • Decreased balance • Decreased sense of position of legs • Change in pain sensation

  18. Touch/sensation - Impact • Increased risk for: • Falls • Burns • Lacerations • Calluses • Pressure ulcers

  19. Do you feel what I feel? Hands on interactive experience

  20. Vision • What are you experiencing? • Glaucoma • How would this impact your day to day life?

  21. Vision • What are you experiencing? • Macular Degeneration • How would this impact your day to day life?

  22. Vision • What are you experiencing? • Hemianopsia • How would this impact your day to day life?

  23. Vision • What are you experiencing? • Cataracts • How would this impact your day to day life?

  24. Vision • What are you experiencing? • Yellowing of the lens

  25. Medication Experience

  26. References • Capezuti, E., Zwicker, D., Mezey, M., & Fulmer, T. (Ed’s.). (2008). Evidence-based geriatric nursing protocols for best practice (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, LLC.

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