This course is designed to assist the student in increasing knowledge of the aging process and its effect on the individual. The aging process is inspected from a physical, psychosocial, and spiritual aspect, allowing the student to identify optimum functioning in the elderly adult. The student is taught to identify problems and benefits of healthy aging. This course also explores the effect of illness on the older adult's total lifestyle. Utilizing the nursing process students are taught how to administer care to the chronic and acutely ill elderly, with special emphasis on rehabilitation, nutrition, and maintenance of health.
Students also explore the different environments of care where the elderly adult resides.
Community agencies offering aid to the aged are identified and discussed. This course focuses on the physical and psychosocial aspects of the childbearing family. Basic concepts of reproduction and the childbearing cycle are presented. The role of the practical nurse is presented as it relates to caring for, supporting, and teaching the childbearing family. The nursing process is utilized in discussing the care and treatment of the patient and family throughout the obstetrical cycle.