Geriatric Special Topics: Perioperative Care of the Older Adult (4CH)

Course overview

Target Audience: The target audience for this education program is nurses who want to improve their nursing skills when caring for older adult patients in the perioperative setting. Course Overview: Surgical procedures performed on older adults are expected to rise. About one-third of all procedures and one-half of surgical procedures on the cardiovascular and digestive systems in nonfederal short-term hospitals are performed on inpatients aged 65 years and older. The high stake demands of perioperative patient care, the increasing number of older adults undergoing surgery, and the unique vulnerabilities of this population require the translation of science-based interprofessional collaboration. This education program promotes the use of the nursing process, critical thinking, and evidence-based practice models to help nurses enhance their ability to provide care to the older adult in the perioperative setting, ensure patient safety, and facilitate quality for older adult patients and their families. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES On completion of this course, the reader should be able to: Discuss statistical data relevant to the care of the older adult in the perioperative setting. Identify unique multifactorial challenges affecting the older adult perioperative patient. Synthesize current best practices from related geriatric themes in the assessment and management of the older adult perioperative patient. Describe geriatric-specific, evidence-based, and collaborative interventions to improve outcomes among older adult perioperative patients.