Locations:
Search IconSearch
December 18, 2024/Nursing/Podcast

Geriatric Nursing: Caring for Older Adults (Podcast)

Building a trusting environment is key to providing age-sensitive care

When Jennifer Katlen, MEd, MSN, APRN, ACNS-BC, CCRN, GERO-BC, teaches an aging sensitivity course, she asks caregivers to list the first words that come to mind when they think of older patients. They often describe geriatric patients as weak, frail, grumpy and slow. She then reminds course attendees that what you see in the hospital isn’t the norm.

Advertisement

Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy

“We always point out that if you put the most active person in a hospital gown and some yellow socks in a bed, you’re going to go right to that they’re slow, they’re frail, they’re grumpy – not that they’re running the community center near their house or golfing three times a week,” says Katlen. “So, it’s important to kind of reset our perceptions on older adults.”

In this episode of Cleveland Clinic’s Nurse Essentials podcast, Katlen and Julie Simon, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC, GCNS-BC, CMSRN, clinical nurse specialists within the healthcare system, share misconceptions about older patients and insight on caring for the geriatric population. They delve into:

  • The importance of assessing for physiological, psychological and social changes in older patients
  • How to build trust and relationships with geriatric patients
  • Looking for signs of elder abuse and neglect
  • The Age-Friendly Health Systems’ 4Ms of care: What Matters, Medication, Mentation and Mobility
  • Cleveland Clinic’s geriatric resource nurse program

Click the podcast player above to listen to the episode now, or read on for a short, edited excerpt. Check out more Nurse Essentials episodes at my.clevelandclinic.org/podcasts/nurse-essentials or wherever you get your podcasts.

Podcast excerpt

Podcast host Carol Pehotsky, DNP, RN, NEA-BC: Tell us a little bit about the importance of building trust in caring for older patients.

Katlen: So, we want to make sure that we're building a trusting environment with our patients. And sometimes that occurs in the hospital and sometimes outside of the hospital.

Advertisement

I encourage you, if you're interested in working with older adults, to seek out opportunities maybe in your community to work with our older adults. Whether that's a community health fair or I work at our mobile food pantry at my hospital. And that provides a lot of good connection points.

Julie has some great ideas for building a trusting environment in the hospital setting.

Simon: Right. Beyond that experience, which I think is helpful, make sure that the scenario is set up for good communication in the first place. So, does the patient have their glasses on? Do they have their hearing aids on? Is the IV pump going off? You know, sitting next to you and the neighbor has their TV blaring. So, can we look at the environment, address it a little bit so they can have conversations with us in the first place?

And then, beyond that, it prevents so many different things like delirium as we mentioned before. But then, [make sure] you have that good setup – come down to eye level, sit down with your patient and then have your conversation. Because it just communicates respect – I have the time for you, to see what your concern is.

Advertisement

Related Articles

Nurse researchers
May 30, 2025/Nursing/Innovations
Advancing the Nursing Profession Through Science

How nurses are using frontline research to improve patient outcomes and healthcare delivery

Pink stethoscope with NICU label
May 30, 2025/Pediatrics
Why Words Matter in the NICU

How one simple project changed the conversation about care and the patient-parental experience

Helicopter
Anytime, Anywhere: Critical Care On The Go

Transport nurses prepare to manage all patients and acuity levels

Nurse Kristen Vargo
Successfully Transitioning from Nursing Peer to Leader (Podcast)

How to move from working side-by-side with nursing colleagues to leading a team

Nurse Margee Pagnucco
Connecting with Health Organizations Around the World (Podcast)

Nurses play a pivotal role in Cleveland Clinic Connected, a global affiliation program aimed at sharing expertise

Portrait of nurse David Lucas
April 23, 2025/Nursing/Podcast
Specialty Spotlight: Caring for Patients in a Neurological ICU (Podcast)

What it’s like working in neurology critical care and what to consider before entering the specialty

Nurse giving shot
April 21, 2025/Nursing/Clinical Nursing
Modern Healthcare’s Ambulatory Care Nurse

Delivering specialized care and education that improves outcomes

Nurses in OR
April 16, 2025/Nursing/Clinical Nursing
Perioperative Nurses Help Propel Robotic Surgery Programs

As robotics in the OR grows, so does the role of nurses

Ad