Stress Among Caregivers of Chronically Ill Older Adults: Implications for Nursing Practice
Authors: Newell Rebecca A. , Allore Suzanne M. , Dowd Ouida P. , Netinho Susan , Asselin Marilyn E. 
Published: August 2012

How to Obtain Contact Hours by Reading This Article

Instructions

2.1 contact hours will be awarded for this activity. A contact hour is 60 minutes of instruction. This is a Learner-Paced Program. Vindico Medical Education does not require submission of quiz answers. A contact hour certificate will be awarded 4 to 6 weeks upon receipt of your completed Registration Form, including the Evaluation portion. To obtain contact hours:

1.
Read the article “Stress among Caregivers of Chronically Ill Older Adults: Implications for Nursing Practice” by Rebecca A. Newell, MS, RN; Suzanne M. Allore, USA (Ret.), MS, RN, BSed; Ouida P. Dowd, MS, RN; Susan Netinho, MS, RN; and Marilyn E. Asselin, PhD, RN-BC on pages 18–29, carefully noting the tables and other illustrative materials that are provided to enhance your knowledge and understanding of the content.

2.
Read each question and record your answers. After completing all questions, compare your answers to those provided at the end of the quiz.

3.
Type or print your full name, address, and date of birth in the spaces provided on the registration form.

4.
Indicate the total time spent on the activity (reading article and completing quiz). Forms and quizzes cannot be processed if this section is incomplete. All participants are required by the accreditation agency to attest to the time spent completing the activity.

5.
Forward the completed form with your check or money order for $20 made payable to JGN-CNE. All payments must be made in U.S. dollars and checks must be drawn on U.S. banks. CNE Registration Forms must be received no later than September 30, 2014.

This activity is co-provided by Vindico Medical Education and the J
ournal of
G
erontological
N
ursing
.

Vindico Medical Education, LLC is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Activity Objectives

1.
Identify selected demographic characteristics of caregivers.

2.
Identify theoretical models of caregiver stress.

3.
Describe the impact of caregiver stress.

4.
Describe assessment recommendations and tools available for caregiver assessment.

5.
Discuss nursing interventions to reduce caregiver stress.

Author Disclosure Statement
The authors disclose that they have no significant financial interests in any product or class of products discussed directly or indirectly in this activity, including research support.

Commercial Support Statement
All authors and planners have agreed that this activity will be free of commercial bias. There is no commercial support for this activity. There is no non-commercial support for this activity.

Caregiving is a dynamic process involving a series of decisions at different stages of a person’s chronic illness trajectory. Research suggests the burdens of caregiving can lead to caregiver stress, the actual or perceived physical or emotional strain experienced by the caregiver. Nurses have a pivotal role in assessing for caregiver stress and providing interventions to assist caregivers. This article defines caregiver stress, discusses the impact that caregiving has on a caregiver, provides assessment principles to identify caregiver stress, and includes evidence-based interventions that can be tailored to individual caregivers to encourage health-promoting behaviors.