Gerontology

By the end of this lesson you should be able to: - Separate expected age-related change from disease, and explain why an older adult's reserve (not the age itself) drives risk. - Recognize atypical presentations of infection, myocardial infarction and medication toxicity, and treat a sudden change from baseline as a clinical problem to be worked up. - Describe the parts of a comprehensive geriatric assessment and what the RN contributes to each. - Grade frailty with the Clinical Frailty Scale and use the result to shape goals of care and risk planning. - Stratify fall risk, measure orthostatic blood pressure correctly and plan multifactorial prevention. - Review a medication list against the Beers and STOPP/START criteria and take part in deprescribing. - Screen for delirium with the Confusion Assessment Method features, find the cause, and escalate to the right person at the right speed. - Screen for depression with an appropriate tool and respond to suicidal thinking. - Recognize elder abuse and neglect, and describe the duty to report using a named provincial example. - Explain capacity, substitute decision...