Growth & Development - Middle Adulthood

Development
1. Aging begins to be noticeable
2. Bone density loss
3. Changes to vision and hearing occur
4. May have decreased stamina and strength
5. Skin and hair become more dry
Cognitive
1. Decrease in mental flexibility
2. More difficult to make new habits
3. May take longer to learn new things
Psychosocial
1. Erikson’s- Generativity vs Stagnation
2. May experience some of the following
  1. Mid-life crisis
  2. Empty nesting
  3. Sandwhich Generation
    1. Increase demands with caring for adult children and aging parents

Therapeutic Management

Patient Interactions
1. Increasing emphasis on health screening
2. Be sensitive to stresses associated with sandwich generation
3. Patient education should be directed toward the adult learner
Common health issues
1. Chronic health problems become common
  1. Hypertension
  2. Type 2 Diabetes
  3. Heart disease
  4. Cancer
2. Women’s health
  1. Menopause (45-55 years)
  2. Breast examinations and mammograms
  3. Pap smear
3. Men’s health
  1. Decrease in testosterone levels
  2. Testicular examinations
  3. Prostate cancer screening.
4. Health screening for all
  1. Vision
  2. Dental
  3. Blood pressure monitoring
  4. Lipid screening
  5. Colorectal cancer screening

Nursing Concepts

Human Development
1. Middle adulthood is characterized by productivity and involvement in community.
Patient Centered Care
1. Patients who are in middle adulthood may be under a lot of stress as they help support adult children and care for their aging parents.

Patient Education

Healthcare for patients in middle adulthood should involve regular screening for cancers. Patients must be educated on the importance of this.

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Transcript

Hey everyone, in this lesson we are going to go over growth and developmental considerations for patients who are in middle adulthood.

This stage is from 40 to 60 years and it’s really that stage of life in which aging begins to show.

Lifestyle decisions that people have made will really start to impact health and quality of life.

Physically, the major aspects of aging that come through are bone density loss, decreasing stamina and strength, worsening vision and hearing, skin and hair become more dry and brittle, and women will begin to experience menopause.

Cognitively, there may begin to be signs of decreased mental flexibility toward the upper end of this stage. Making new habits and learning new information may be more difficult if efforts aren’t made to stay intellectually active and engaged.

Psychosocially, they are in erikson’s generativity vs stagnation phase and this all about trying to contribute to the world- to feel like you’ve made a difference.

Sometimes patients in this stage may begin to struggle with the idea that they are getting older and the stereotypical midlife crisis may occur.

A few other things happening in this stage are that children are leaving home, making those in this stage of adulthood empty nesters.

The term sandwich generation is often used to describe this stage because they experience the demands of supporting their kids and also taking care of their aging parents.

A lot of patient interactions are geared toward health screening so that diagnoses that are common in this age group can be detected as early as possible. Examples of this would be high blood pressure, high cholesterol, breast cancer, and testicular cancer.

In planning care it’s important to be sensitive to the pressures they feel in caring for others. Because they are caring for kids and for their parents it’s very possible they will neglect their own health.

Patient education should be directed toward adult learners as these patients benefit by having their experience acknowledged.

Health issues seen in this age group are hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer and obesity.

Your priority nursing concepts when caring for a patient in middle adulthood are human development, patient centered care and health promotion.

Alright, I’ve listed some key points from this lesson here, so let’s quickly run through them. Middle adulthood is from 40-60 years and they are in the generativity vs stagnation stage of psychosocial development.

This is the time when aging becomes noticeable. Chronic health issues begin to be more of an issue, having an impact on quality of life.

Health screening is extremely important because we want to catch these health issues early on to prevent complications.

Patient education should keep in mind that the patient is an adult learner and it’s important to keep in mind that patients at this stage may be slower to learn new things and develop new habits.

That’s it for our lesson on growth and development considerations for middle adulthood. Make sure you check out all the resources attached to this lesson. Now, go out and be your best self today. Happy Nursing!

Growth & Development – Middle Adulthood

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Outline

Overview

Nursing Points

General

Assessment

Therapeutic Management

Nursing Concepts

Patient Education

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