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Health literacy of the residents of home for eldery
PLCHOVÁ, Aneta
The diploma thesis deals with the health literacy of the residents living in the homes for the elderly. The aim was to find out what is the seniors' level of health literacy, whether they are interested in raising it and whether they are able to participate in the care of their person and make decision about their health. The second objective of the thesis was to describe the role of the nurse in providing health literacy to the clients of the home for the elderly. In the theoretical part of the diploma thesis, we were dealing first with the concept of old age and aging for a comprehensive overview, and we summarized the concepts of health and illness in old age and issues of geriatric nursing and nursing care in homes for the elderly. We analyzed in detail individual areas of health literacy, the acquired knowledge was applied in the research section. The objectives were achieved through a qualitative research in the form of semi-structured interviews. The set for research was chosen on purpose. In the set, there were clients of retirement homes and nurses that works in these homes. The research part focused on the identification of seniors' health literacy took place in two stages, a cognitive function test was first performed with the selected seniors, and it was then followed by an in-depth interview with cognitively intact seniors. The data were processed using text coloring. In the research focused on seniors, there were created 4 categories with 9 subcategories and in the nurse's research, there were 3 categories with 7 subcategories. The research shows that the level of health literacy of the elderly population differs depending on the specific area of health literacy, but it can be summed up that the seniors generally have insufficient health literacy due to the abandonment of initiative and responsibility in the care of their person and decision-making about their health status to the medical staff. In order to increase their health literacy, education is needed especially in the effect of lifestyle on health, the preventive behaviour, the causes and the possible complications of the diseases and the side effects of the used drugs. In the second part of the research we found that the role of a nurse in the home for the elderly is not only irreplaceable in increasing the health literacy of seniors, but very time and psychologically demanding, therefore, it always does not reach the qualities that the nurses themselves would like.
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Specifics of nursing care in children with growth disorder
PLCHOVÁ, Aneta
Growth is a process by which the body's height and weight increase, and the body's proportions change. Specific growth factors are critical for foetal development in the womb, and in post-natal life they control heredity, sex, nutrition, health, social abilities and emotional balance of the child as well as hormonal functions. Just as growth disorders can be a failure in growth, they also encompass growth that exceeds normal measurements. Both of these are, under certain conditions, physiological variants of growth; but they are often the first signs of a serious health complication. The growth of the body is evaluated by anthropometrical signs including body weight, body length and after two years of age, body height. It is also possible to evaluate body growth using measurements of the circumference of various parts of the body. Most often used is the circumference of the head which is measured in children up to eighteen months. Body Mass Index (BMI) and the ratio of weight and height is also used in evaluations. A nurse will evaluate the precise height and weight, and in some cases the circumference of the head of the child. The results will be presented on an appropriate percentile chart. All previous measurements must be written on the chart, so that the overall growth and the rate of growth can be established. The nurse should, apart from taking measurements and records, be vigilant and inform the doctor if they feel that the child is not growing uniformly. If the child appears to grow taller or shorter than what was predicted by the percentile chart, further steps are taken via the evaluation of data from anamnesis, psychological state, pubertal development and the appearance of the child. After this the nurse will, at the doctors instruction, take blood and urine samples. The child is then often sent to an endocrinologist who will request further evaluations of bone age and special tests of endocrinal function, whereby the nurse will take blood during stimulation tests. The nurse therefore has a vital role in the evaluation of growth as well as in therapy. Children who present a need for treatment using growth hormones will have the hormones administered by the nurse via injection, and the nurse will later teach the parents and the child how to administer the injection themselves. Throughout the entire process of evaluation and therapy the nurse will observe the child and will address nursing diagnoses with them; the most important of which are the risks of disproportional growth and late growth and development. This Bachelor's thesis entitled Nursing Care of Children with Growth Disorders is a theoretical thesis produced by a method of content analysis of Czech and overseas sources of information. It was necessary to study many expert and specialized books, electronic journals and websites of professional societies. The majority of these expert informations are dedicated to growth disorders from a medical point of view; the job of the nurse in these situations is certainly not in the forefront. That was the foundation for this bachelor's thesis, which will first summarize the theoretical knowledge about growth and its disorders; for without this information this thesis would not be complete. Subsequently, it will cover the role of the nurse in intervention during diagnosis and therapy. A painstaking effort has been made to read into as many expert sources as possible so that an accurate outline distinguishing growth disorders, diagnoses, current indications for treatment and the treatments themselves is created. Furthermore, as much information as possible on the role of nurses through intervention during evaluation of growth and nursing care of children with growth disorders has been compiled.
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