Active depression is a common case experienced by elderly people and which threatens their lives. My client is a female patient in a nursing home aged 84 years with hypertension history. It was an idea of her children to take her to that facility to give her special and close attention from nurses and other medical personnel. However, this decision turned to be dangerous since it resulted to depression after the family members had no time to visit her due to tight schedules. Consequently, their mother developed depression, which was associated with social isolation due loneliness and prolonged stay in the facility as well as memories of her deceased husband.
Such a client needs a nursing care plan that deals with hopelessness and feeling isolated whose diagnosis indicate that the patient is limited and can neither make personal choices, nor engage her own energy in assisting herself (Gulanick & Myers, 2011). This plan is geared to help this client accept her situation and cope with events that are beyond her control, because the situation of her family is not likely to change. Furthermore, the client would adopt personal problem-solving methods to cater for her life without stress.
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Some of the nursing interventions may include assessing destructive features related to feelings such as avoidance and feeling socially withdrawn. Acknowledging patient’s behaviors creates a room for change as the she would be encouraged to face these challenges positively. Assessing more individual signs of hopelessness and despair is another important intervention to help this patient. Furthermore, proper medication of drugs such as antidepressants alongside other hypertension medicines would help to mitigate this problem.
According to Geriatric Depression Scale, this client scored 17 points that indicates mild depression that can be controlled by the nursing plan proposed (Bae & Cho, 2004). This scale measures the level of social interaction and enjoyment and also interests exhibited by the patients suspected to suffer from depression. The scale ranges from 1 to 30 points depending on the level of stress. Therefore, this patient needs interventions to treat and control mild depression before it develops to a worse level.
References
Bae, J. N., & Cho, M. J. (2004). Development of the Korean version of the Geriatric Depression Scale and its short form among elderly psychiatric patients. Journal of psychosomatic research, 57(3), 297-305.
Gulanick, M., & Myers, J. L. (2011). Nursing care plans: Diagnoses, interventions, and outcomes. Elsevier Health Sciences.
