高齡化社會老年病人之醫療照護

Gerontological Nursing Care among Hospitalized Elderly in the Aging Society of Taiwan

台灣目前正處於高齡化社會的時代，高齡病患增加對整個醫療環境造成不少負擔，而國外對於高齡照護的計劃性教育、照護模式的發展及高齡照護品質的重視，在在提供我們許多參考的空間，也加深發展台灣高齡照護的重要性。尤其第一線面對病患的護理人員，在照護上所受到的衝擊更是不可小覷，往往伴隨著許多挫折與不安，若能詳細了解成功老化的概念及高齡病患之特色，進而學習老年病患照護之相關知識並累積相關技巧及經驗，將可提高照護過程的成就感。文中提出一般高齡照護的基本概念及病患特色，如非典型之臨床表徵、多重慢性病及多重用藥等，並討論跌倒及譫妄兩種高齡病患最常見的問題，從中了解高齡照護團隊之照護模式、危險因子篩檢及早期預防的重要性，以提供臨床照護之參考。

Population aging is a global phenomenon associated with various challenges to our medical care system.The proportion of the Taiwanese population over 65years of age was 7% in 1993 and will rise to 14% by 2019.Geriatric nursing care has been developed for many years in many countries, and created many care projectsand models to improve the elderly care quality. The impact of aging process on the primary care nurse isincreasing. The depressed and discomfort mood also influence the care quality and motivators deeply. In thisarticle, we introduced the concept of how to care for the elderly and the characteristics of elderly patients,including atypical symptom presentation, comorbidity, and polypharmacy et. al. We also discussed with theimportance of the two most common geriatric syndromes, falls and delirium. We hope to provide the experiencein elderly care to primary care staff and persons.