The Importance Of Elder Abuse In Nursing

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The number one priority of the Registered Nurse should be to provide holistic, patient-centred, safe and evidence based care to every patient. Patients who are admitted into hospital or seek healthcare services externally through clinics or the community usually expect to receive the safest and highest quality of care possible from that facility. Registered Nurses have a major responsibility to ensure that this is achieved. To help guide nurses and other healthcare workers in the right direction, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) created and enforced the “Registered Nurse Standards for Practice”. These standards aim to assist healthcare practitioners in providing high quality and safe care to every client. The standards also …show more content…

Abuse can be physical, emotional, financial, social, nutritional, sexual and/or general neglect (Dong, 2015, p. 01). It is an increasing and highly unaddressed area of elderly mistreatment which is known to have a severe impact on an individual’s quality of life (Castle & Beach, 2011, p. 12). According to Stephanie Wood in her article “Spotlight Swings on Elder Abuse as Inquiry and Royal Commission Examine Issue”, 6 percent of elderly Australians are abused by someone they trust every year and almost one third of the reported cases are based on financial matters. It is the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation’s (2014) view that regardless of whether the client is receiving care in hospital, residential aged care or even in their own home, they are entitled to be treated with dignity and …show more content…

02). Dementia, functional impairment and poor physical health are documented risk factors for financial exploitation (Lachs & Pillemer, 2015, p. 01). The presumed level of impact of abuse towards the elderly may be influenced by incorrect assumptions made due to the “ageing process” (Phelan, 2010, p. 02). This may mean that a patient who has been abused could appear frightened and confused, but is ignored because they were previously diagnosed with a cognitive impairing illness such as dementia and these are “normal” symptoms (Phelan, 2010, p.

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