Nursing diagnoses in the elderly of a northeastern region
International Journal of Development Research
Nursing diagnoses in the elderly of a northeastern region
Received 10th May, 2017; Received in revised form 15th June, 2017; Accepted 22nd July, 2017; Published online 30th August, 2017
Copyright ©2017, Paula Cristina Araújo Morais et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Objective: To identify nursing diagnoses in elderly participants in activities carried out in the Social Assistance Referral Centers of the municipalities of Aracoiaba, Aratuba, Itapiúna, Mulungu and Pacoti, located in the Baturité-Ceará Massif. Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out between January and July 2014 with 134 elderly people. The following criteria for inclusion of the elderly in the study were considered: age of 60 years or older, physical and mental ability to respond to the form used for data collection, acceptance to perform a physical examination. Results: The nursing diagnoses identified in at least 30% of the sample were: Disposition for improved spiritual well-being (99.3%), Poor knowledge (83.6%), Risk of falls (45.5%), Fatigue (41.8%), Unbalanced nutrition: more than body needs (37.3%), Sedentary lifestyle (34.3%), Chronic pain (34.3%), and Impaired urinary elimination (32.8%). Conclusion: Nurses should be attentive to the health demands of the elderly population in order to intervene in their real needs, promoting a higher quality of life.
