Paper Example on Geriatric Psychiatry Care: Moving into Twenty-First-Century Model

Introduction

Geriatric psychiatry care has adopted the twenty-first-century model when providing care for the patients as evidenced by various changes that have been introduced in the practice. For example, policies and practices requiring interdependence when providing care for the patients have been abolished. When providing care for the geriatric psychiatric patients, the modern practice requires that nurses are allowed to make a decision based on the evidence that is available as this ensures that quality of care is enhanced (Kotter, 2012). Within the practice, nurses have continually been empowered to review patients' management and make alterations in most areas including various daily routines without having to consult the nurse manager.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The allowance of the lower levels to manage while the nursing managers continue to practice their management is evident in the geriatric psychiatric practice. The lower levels of nurses in the geriatric psychiatric care are concerned with the daily running of the organization such as patient care planning and ensuring that quality is maintained within the clinical area (Kotter, 2012). These lower level nurses also create an environment to foster the adoption of emerging evidence and apply it to the care of patients. On the other hand, the high-level managers are focused on setting the standards of care, establishing the organizational culture and providing inspiration for the entire team (Brink & Lichtenberg, 2014). For example, the higher-level managers are concerned with providing training that has ensured that the organization adopts patient-centered care.

The time that it takes to make decisions within the current geriatric psychiatric setting is also evidence of the shift of the practice towards the twenty-first-century model. For example, individual nurses are in a position to plan and make alterations to the patients' care without having to involve the nurse managers. These changes include the adoption of new evidence on how to engage the family members, dietary provisions and also therapy sessions. These reduced timelines for making decisions have allowed patients' issues to be addressed inadequate time and hence alleviate unnecessary suffering. The fact that nurses in the lower level are allowed to make alterations in the care of patients, is also coupled with the practice of staff being open and candid when engaging in care planning. Based on this practice, the staff are able to provide each other with the prerequisite feedback and grow professionally while at the same time guaranteeing the provision of quality care for the patients.

Self-Description

As a person, I have several inborn capabilities that provide me with an opportunity to be successful in the future. For example, I have the ability to anticipate the needs based on various interactions that I have with persons within my environment. The skill is useful in the geriatric psychiatric setting where most often the patients are not in a position to voice their needs and so their healthcare provider needs to think about the potential issues they could face (Rowe, Fulmer, & Fried, 2016). After identifying the potential issues, the healthcare provider to plan for the required care based on the existing evidence.

I also have a desire to perform well in all my engagements, a skill that I transfer to the geriatric psychiatric setting since the patients involved need to be provided with the highest quality of care. The desire to perform well in my job is also critical as it pushes me to work with patient's relatives who are critical in ensuring that the care for their family members is continued even when they are out of clinical areas. Creating an environment where continuity of care is fostered is useful as it does not only ensure that patients receive high-quality services provided but it also increases the trust that the family members have on healthcare providers hence providing opportunities for more collaboration (Brink & Lichtenberg, 2014). The desire to perform well in my work environment also helps me to fit better into the healthcare team where individuals are required to complete different tasks that at the end result being wholesome care for the patients. The desire to perform well also drives me to review different information that is availed through research to ensure that I integrate new information when planning for the nursing care for the patients.

Competitive Capacity

In the twenty-first century geriatric psychiatric setup, there is an increasingly competitive environment as is evident in other economic areas. Due to the competitive nature of the workplace and organizations, it is important for one to learn how to hand competition from various sources (Moseiko, Korobov, & Frolov, 2015). In my case, I am able to compete effectively when placed in an environment that presents competitiveness. This is based on my high level of confidence when resolving issues and addressing the needs of the clients as well as the high level of standards that I observe when providing care for the patients. The high level of confidence provides an opportunity to respond to the patients' questions and those that are raised by my colleagues. Having a high level of confidence also enables me to take up feedback that is provided in a professional manner hence ensuring that I continue to grow my skills in the area of geriatric psychiatry.

Despite being in a position where I can work in a competitive environment, I do not seek opportunities where I can emerge as a winner. In contrast, I prefer to see positive results that can be attributed to the entire team as opposed to just winning. Over time, I have realized that seeking out to be a winner has a negative impact on the care that is provided to the patients and it also tends to tear the team fabric reducing cooperation that is critical in enabling one to also grow professionally. I have also observed that most persons who seek opportunities to become the winner also tend to neglect the primary objective of their roles as geriatric care provides which is ensure that patients receive high-quality care. Seeking out opportunities for one to be perceived as a winner also leads to staff members taking shortcuts when delivering care which further compromises the quality with the end result being that patients tend to suffer for longer. Based on these observations, I have resulted to focus on achieving positive results even when working in a competitive environment.

Mental Habits for Lifelong Learning

I have various mental habits that lifelong learning which is a critical aspect when working in the geriatric psychiatry where each patient presents a different set of complexities. For example, I have the ability to carefully listen to other people including the patients, their relatives and also my colleagues at work. In one situation, I faced a situation where the patient I was providing care for did not comply with the medication regiment that was provided. I resolved to talk to my manager about the issue who advised that I had omitted the family when planning for the care hence lowering the level of compliance with the medication regimen. When I incorporate the feedback provided, the patient's complied with medication regimen and the family was willing to provide more information on the issues that could help improve the nursing care.

The lifelong learning requires one to adopt new evidence that emerges from research which is critical to ensuring that patients continue to receive quality care. I am open to new ideas that will help to improve the quality of care that I provide when working in the geriatric psychiatric setting (Kotter, 2012). I am also cognizant of the fact that the incorporating new ideas in my practice are also important in ensuring that I grow professionally. Other than just take up new information I strive to incorporate it into my routine care as this tends to ensure that the patients receive good quality of care even though it is sometimes challenging to change one's approach to nursing. For example, I reviewed new guidelines on how to conduct family member interviews when one meets their patient for the first time where I learned that creating an environment that makes them feel involved in the process will determine their cooperation in the future. Even though it was difficult to shift to this form of practice where patient family members are involved in the care of their relatives, I gradually made changes to the interview questions that I use during the first visit to broaden the issues covered. The changes in the interview questions made it possible to create various areas that the family members can provide their input leading to more comprehensive care for the patient.

References

Brink, T. L., & Lichtenberg, P. A. (2014). Mental health practice in geriatric health care settings. London: Routledge.

Kotter, J. (2012). Leading change. Boston: Harvard Business Review.

Moseiko, V. O., Korobov, S. A., & Frolov, D. P. (2015). Socio-economic systems' competitiveness assessment method. Asian Social Science, 11(20), 1.

Rowe, J. W., Fulmer, T., & Fried, L. (2016). Preparing for better health and health care for an aging population. JAMA, 316(16), 1643-1644.