Geriatric Clinical Reflection
Describe your clinical experience for this week as a student nurse practitioner taking care of geriatric patients.
- Did you face any challenges, any success? If so, what were they?
- Describe the assessment of a patient, detailing the signs and symptoms (S&S), assessment, plan of care, and at least 3 possible differential diagnosis with rationales.
- Mention the health promotion intervention for this patient.
- What did you learn from this week’s clinical experience that can beneficial for you as an advanced practice nurse?
- Support your plan of care with the current peer-reviewed research guideline.
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Geriatric Clinical Reflection
Submission Instructions:
- Your initial post should be at least 500 words, formatted and cited in current APA style with support from at least 2 academic sources. Your initial post is worth 8 points.
Weekly Clinical Reflection: Geriatric Care Experience as a Student Nurse Practitioner
This week, I had the opportunity to care for several geriatric patients during my clinical rotation at a primary care facility. One of the most valuable aspects of this experience was learning to navigate the complexity of comorbidities and polypharmacy in older adults. A common theme was balancing the treatment of chronic conditions while preserving quality of life and functional independence. One notable patient interaction stood out and contributed significantly to my learning.
Clinical Encounter and Challenges
My primary patient this week was an 82-year-old male with a history of hypertension, osteoarthritis, and mild cognitive impairment. He presented with complaints of increasing fatigue, dizziness when standing, and occasional shortness of breath over the past week. One of the main challenges in assessing this patient was differentiating between symptoms caused by medication side effects and the progression of underlying conditions. The patient was on several medications, including lisinopril, furosemide, and acetaminophen. Additionally, the patient lived alone, which added a social dimension to his care that needed to be factored into discharge planning and health promotion.
Assessment and Clinical Decision Making
Upon physical assessment, the patient appeared frail and fatigued, with a blood pressure of 96/58 mmHg, pulse of 82 bpm, and oxygen saturation of 94% on room air.
