Home  |  Site Map |  Русская версия  

St. Petersburg Workshop Teaches Russian Nurses Clinical Skills Relating to Elderly Care

Originally published in AIHA's Connections, June 2002.

Thirty nurse practitioners and midwives from eight AIHA primary healthcare partnerships in Russia attended a skills-building workshop May 13-16 in St. Petersburg. Hosted by one Russian and five US partnership nurses, the four-day workshop was designed to teach nurses to identify age-related changes that affect the functional status of elderly patients, to screen the mental capacity of people in this age group, and to assess their healthcare needs. In addition, nurses learned about patient-specific, primary-care skills related to child, adolescent, mental, and dental health, as well as enhanced their knowledge about asthma care, and time management.

Using a plastic-like shield that slightly blurs their vision to illustrate how older adults view the world, nurses temporarily experience "aging" eyes. (Photo: Marina Ayvazyan)

The meeting began with introductory remarks from lead US faculty, Kay Oliver, director of Central College's Institute of Extended Education in Pella, Iowa, who welcomed participants and gave an overview of the workshop's objectives. Jackie Paulson, retired director of nursing education and training at Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, Oregon, then discussed aging and the changes that commonly occur later in life, including hearing loss and visual impairment. She also talked about patient assessment and nursing interventions that address these changes, as well as diseases associated with aging, such as arthritis, osteoporosis, and heart failure.

Following Paulson's talk, Darlene Weis, associate professor at Marquette University's College of Nursing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, shared some myths and realities about the aging process and talked about age-related changes versus risk factors in the musculoskeletal, digestive, and urinary systems. The lectures were supplemented by interactive demonstrations during which participants temporarily viewed the world through aging eyes and experienced hearing loss.

In another lecture, Weis discussed dental health and highlighted assessment and oral hygiene education for both older adults and children. During a question and answer session that followed, many of the nurses said that they were unaware that tooth deterioration and loss in older adults are not inevitable. Additionally, participants talked about prevention programs available in both Russia and the United States.

Nurses participate in asthma exercise during a session on managing asthma and reducing risk factors. (Photo: Emily Adams Korff)

The nurses also heard a lecture on time management, led by Oliver, which encouraged them to find balance in their own lives and to set goals and priorities. At a presentation on mental health and depression given by Tatiana Grishina, a nurse at Korsakov Central Regional Hospital in Russia, participants had the opportunity to evaluate their own mental health status. During her talk, Grishina distributed a screening questionnaire along with a copy of the Hamilton scale used to reveal depression among patients at her facility. The lecture concluded with a demonstration of exercises that can help people overcome depression. Continuing on the topic of mental health, Barbara Fisher, partnership coordinator of the Dushanbe/Boulder and Odessa/Boulder partnerships and vice president of Boulder Community Hospital in Colorado, discussed stress and anxiety, administering Dr. Rahe's Life Changes Stress Test to participants. In a final lecture, Laure Lisk, director of Women's and Family Services at Boulder Community Hospital, talked about childhood and adolescent asthma, its various stages, and how to manage the disease and reduce risk factors. She then taught participants how to identify and apply nursing interventions to stress, anxiety, and depression.
Contents © 1996-2007 EurasiaHealth Knowledge Network / American International Health Alliance.
Please contact the EurasiaHealth webmaster with any comments, suggestions, or problems.