Ageing in a Nursing Home: Foundations for Care

by Rosalie Hudson

Overview

Spending the final chapter of your life in a nursing home is considered, by many, a fate worse than death. Others, however, have found that through enlightened, imaginative care even the frailest of lives can flourish. The key to such a transformation is to replace the constricting custodial centres of the past with a more informed, research-based approach. This book is timely, responding to evidence of the urgent need for change described in the Australian Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety Final Report: Care, Dignity and Respect and its predecessor subtitled Neglect.

In this book, the author proposes a model of care that places the whole person at its centre, sidestepping the constraints of a reductionist funding model that focusses on residents' deficits – and the proprietor’s financial gain. Aged care requires a comprehensive research-based guide to fulfil this aim. Narratives are included throughout the book to reinforce the fact that nursing home care is about individual residents and their unique lives. Topics explored in various chapters include:

·         Ageing in a Changing Community

·         Social, Gerontological Care

·         A Palliative Approach

·         Community Expectations

Ageing in a Nursing Home: Foundations for Care takes a realistic approach that draws on contemporary research and narratives from the unique lives of older Australians who, despite their frailty, teach us how to care. Such knowledge informs and influences their future. The book is a resource intended for all who have a stake in the provision of best practice residential aged care, and all who benefit from such care. Its academic appeal will include those who design and teach courses in aged care: gerontology, general practice medicine, nursing, attendant care, allied health, and chaplaincy. Academics and teachers will find useful, well-referenced material for their courses, together with ample scope for researchers. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783030982676
Publisher:	Springer-Verlag New York, LLC
Publication date:	04/19/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	554 KB

About the Author

Rosalie Hudson, RN, Dip Arts, B App Sci adv.nsg., B Theol, M Theol, Grad Dip Geront., PhD, is associate professor and honorary senior fellow at the School of Nursing and Social Work, The University of Melbourne, Australia.

Rosalie is a registered nurse, former nursing home manager with 12 years’ experience and several years as community nursing supervisor. Her doctoral research focused on death and dying in nursing homes.

As an ‘expert witness’, Rosalie assists with legal investigations into cases of negligence in aged care. She is an academic supervisor and examiner, and reviewer of academic journals. Rosalie is also an experienced keynote speaker at conferences in Australia and overseas on topics including aged care, ethics, dementia, palliative care, and spiritual care.

Rosalie has been a member of several academic boards; currently for Meaningful Ageing Australia, for whom she is honorary research consultant. She chaired a major hospital’sethics committee for ten years.

Rosalie’s teaching experience includes university undergraduate and postgraduate lectures on aged care, and regular sessions at other teaching institutions.

In 2018 she was awarded Victorian Senior of the Year.

Her major publications include four authored and co-authored books on aged care.

Table of Contents

Ageing in a changing community.- Communication: the key to care.- Social, gerontological care.- Dementia challenges.- A palliative approach.- Death and dying.- Leadership.- Community expectations.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Tyler Czarnecki, BS Economics(University of Missouri)
Description: This book provides a broad and thorough review of aging in a nursing home. It is comprehensive in the sense that it covers all aspects of the industry. From societal difficulties, mortality, leadership, and abuse to making a facility your home, there is something for everyone.
Purpose: The book's objective is to present lived experiences from the nursing home the author worked at for 12 years as the director of nursing. Important topics are addressed as a result of these experiences and readers are given a worldwide vision of the nursing home business and how broad it is. The book's goal of sharing knowledge on aging in a nursing home has been met.
Audience: This book, in my opinion, has been prepared for students who are interested in nursing homes or want to learn more about how they work. The author fulfills the demands of those who want to learn more about nursing homes, and there is no doubt that she is credible. Her 12 years of experience as a director of nursing, along with her educational background, provide her with lots of legitimate expertise on this issue.
Features: This book covers every aspect of running a long-term care institution, beginning with aging, then moving on to communication, social concerns, dementia challenges, and death and dying. After death is explained, issues with community expectations are presented, along with instances of its occurrence. I would advise reconsidering how the book is arranged in a future edition. As a nursing home administrator, leadership problems and community expectations would provide a more accurate picture of the instances covered in prior chapters.
Assessment: This book is of outstanding quality. The material is based on the author's personal experiences with real-life examples, allowing the book to be simple and straightforward.

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