FALL 2020
N171 GERIATRIC ASSESSMENT
General Directions:
1. You will be asked to conduct a telephonic interview of an older adult. Review all directions
below and have the assessment questions ready during the interview. You will apply a
SPICES Scale and an Extra Assessment with your paper.
2. You may select the older adult of choice. The criteria must include:
a. Age 65 or older
b. Your choice of person must be able to articulate and reply to your questions
c. Select someone you know or have a relationship with (aunt, uncle, grandparent,
neighbor, friend)
d. They must consent to be interviewed
e. Audiotape your interview and save for the day of presentation
i. Interview in alignment with the criteria below:
3. Before you interview, explore your ideas and sentiments about how you expect an older
person to behave in terms of physical function, strength, balance, mobility, endurance and
mental attitude.
4. Begin your interview with some information about yourself, that you are a first-year nursing
student at Saddleback College, why you want to become a nurse, if you are currently
working. Let the interviewee know that you hope to learn more about older adults so that
you can best adapt your care. Explain that this interview would take between 10-20
minutes.
5. Utilize the listed questions during your interview & briefly summarize the participant’s
answers. Your approach should be conversational rather than strictly clinical. Use effective
communication techniques to such as broad openings, open ended questions, focusing,
clarification and summarizing techniques at the point of closure.
PART 1 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:
ACTIVITY LEVEL
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Have you retired from employment? What type of work did you do?
Describe your current physical activity level,
What do you do to exercise, what type and how often? Has exercise helped you?
Do you feel you have good balance?
Have you experienced any falls? What happened? Why do you think this may have
occurred?
 Do you have any difficulty with activities you used to do? Do you have anyone around
who helps you complete these activities?
 What are your interests or hobbies?
PHYSICAL HEALTH RELATED CONCERNS
 Are their medical or health related problems that concern you?
 What types of medication are you taking? (you do not need dosage/frequency – only
types.
 Do you ever experience problems with taking these medications?
 Do you have any questions about your health or your medications?
MENTAL COGNITIVE CONCERNS
 Have you noticed any changes in your emotions or memory lately?
 Do you ever have times when you feel depressed?
 What do you do to manage when you have the “blues?”
 Do you have things going on that worry you?
SOCIAL SUPPORT
 Describe how you keep socially active? Do you live with someone?
 Describe your support system?
 Do you ever feel lonely?
NUTRITION
 Do you do your own cooking?
 What types of food do you eat in a typical day?
 Do you typically eat with others or do you eat alone?
 Are you having any digestive problems or any elimination related problems?
 Have you lost or gained weight recently?
 When you need something from a store, how are you able to get what you need?
 Are you having any dental problems?
SLEEP
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Do you ever have times when you feel excessive sleepiness during the day?
Do you ever have problems falling or staying asleep?
How many times do you wake up at night?
If you cannot sleep, what do you do?
GENERAL
 Would you mind sharing your age?
 Have you ever felt that others see you differently because of your age?
 How do you feel about growing older? What are two positive things you found with
aging and what things that are hard to deal with?
HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS
 Are you comfortable with your primary care MD?
 If you needed hospital care, what are two things you would like when you receive care
from a nurse?
 What do you wish health care providers would do for you?
CLOSURE
 End your interview with gratitude for their time. Let the interviewee know that they have
helped you in your development as a nurse and your understanding of how to care for
someone who is from an older generation.
PART 2 PRESENTING YOUR INTERVIEW TO YOUR INSTRUCTOR AND GROUP
 Use of Geriatric Interview Peer Review Assignment
 Use of Peer Evaluation Tool
PART 3 COMPLETING YOUR PAPER
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I.
Your paper should be 5-6 pages including your answers to the assessment questions.
Submit this paper according your instructor’s directions.
Use your text book and additional scholarly sources to complete the sections. Some
sections will require your analysis.
Provide short answers to your interview questions, if a question was missed or
intentionally skipped, explain why.
APA standards should be applied for 1) title page, 2) margins and double spacing, 3) use
of headings, 4) in-text citations and a separate reference page.
Use the grading rubric to proof your work. You must meet 75% to pass this paper.
INTRODUCTION
Introduces the interviewee including:
Demographics
Pertinent information such as age and living situation
II.
ROLE FUNCTION:
Using Erickson’s Model of Developmental Tasks: Integrity Vs Despair, describe what
behaviors indicate that an individual has met the task of “Integrity” or struggles with
“Despair. ” Describe if you feel your interviewee has met this developmental task or
seems to be struggling. Use a source for this answer.
III.
SPICES SCALE AND EXTRA ASSESSMENT TOOL.
Apply the SPICES scale to your interviewee and describe the results in detail for each
category. Based on your results, which extra assessment tool should be applied; provide
a rationale for using this extra assessment scale. To the best of your ability, answer the
questions from the extra assessment scale. Include the SPICES Scale and extra
assessment scale with your paper.
IV.
MEDICATIONS
List the medications your interviewee is taking (you do not need doses, only types)
List older age-related concerns /geriatric considerations you have for each of the
medications. Your drug reference book or Lewis should be used.
V.
DISCUSS THE CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE AND ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING:
Describe any significant findings that affects the interviewee’s wellbeing.
Describe if there are any risk factors you are concerned with.
Describe any need for health teaching or collaboration with other health disciplines.
Describe any resources needed for follow up care.
VI.
SUMMARY
Describe your ideas about aging before the interview.
Explain if your ideas changed as a result of your interview and what you learned.
Describe an appropriate approach to the nursing care of older adults.
GRADING RUBRIC
Topics
Points
I.
Introduces the interviewee
regarding demographics, age,
living situation
(15)
II.
Using Erickson’s Model of fully
describes the developmental
tasks of Integrity Vs Despair with
relation to the interviewee
(15)
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
SPICES scale and extra
assessment tool.
Describes the results of each
SPICES criterion, rationale and
results for the extra assessments
used.
Medications
Lists the medication used by the
interviewee and geriatric
considerations.
Clinical Significance
Describes findings that affects
wellbeing, risk factors, health
teaching, collaboration and
resources needs.
Summary
Describes personal ideas about
aging, if these ideas changed as a
result of the interview and what
was learned. Describe an
appropriate approach to the
nursing care of older adults
(15)
APA format and Writing Style
Title page and formatting are
properly completed.
Proper use of in-text citations.
Scholarly writing approach
including: use of headings
when indicated, proper
grammar and spelling,
Reference page is
appropriately completed.
(10)
(15)
(15)
(15)