Caring for Older People in Australia: Principles for Nursing Practice

Caring for older Australians should be of paramount concern to all in our community. Older people are from many walks of life, and deserve to be cared for in a manner which promotes their wellbeing and preserves their dignity to the end of their life. Nurses and other health professionals are pivotal in ensuring that their needs are met, at a time when they are most vulnerable. Drawing on the multidisciplinary expertise of Australia s pre–eminent academics and clinicians from the aged care community, Caring for Older People in Australia presents undergraduate students with a holistic guide to care provision in a rapidly growing sector. In recognition that clinical skills and issues do not occur in isolation, the text integrates the most up–to–date multidisciplinary research and policy with the practical realities of caring for older people. Importantly, nurses and other health professionals require knowledge and skills, informed by evidence, to provide care that is appropriate for the older person in their home, community or acute care setting, or residential aged–care facility. This book is developed to provide undergraduate students, students in the TAFE sector, newlyregistered nurses and other health professionals with contemporary knowledge and skills that enable them to practise e ectively and competently across the continuum of care settings. Caring for Older People in Australia adopts a person–centred, primary healthcare focus to explore the most contemporary issues in aged care. It re ects the rich diversity of people, settings and approaches to care and provides readers with numerous opportunities for critical reflection throughout. Caring for Older People in Australia strives for excellence in the delivery of care, informs policy to better reflect the needs of the older person and promotes change in how we see older people in practice.