The Hospitalized elderly and the nursing environment.

This research study investigated the relationship of the Nursing; environment and the hospitalized elderly’s competence post-discharge. This was done by assessing the perceptions of the hospitalized elderly regarding the Nursing; environment and the hospital experience. This was based on the premise that the Nursing; environment constitutes the major portion of the hospital experience. The purpose of this study was to bring to the attention of the Nursing; professions the needs of the hospitalized elderly. Nurses need to recognize the hazards of hospitalization that are of Nursing; significance, and within the domain of Nursing; in order to facilitate the hospitalized elderly’s well being. The hypotheses that were researched looked at the relationship of competence pre- and post-hospitalization, and discharge outcome. A sample (n=27) of hospitalized elderly along with two comparison groups of hospitalized younger subjects and community elderly subjects was used. The research design was longitudinal. All hospital subjects were medical patients with an acute illness. Data collection included three modalities of a self-report scale to measure competence, and open-ended interview guide to assess the perceptions of the hospitalized subjects, and a checklist to review patient charts and assess the Nursing; environment characteristics. The results showed that hospitalization did not affect overall competence but did affect the component variable of physical disability, self-esteem, social satisfaction, and depression. The major finding was that hospitalization decreased the elderly’s level of self-esteem post-hospitalization. Qualitative data showed that the hospitalized elderly’s major goal is to remain maximally independent. The results suggest that nurses need to be more permissive and aggressive in promoting maximum functional activities with the hospitalized elderly.