Rabu, 30 Mei 2018

Working Toward A Career As A Geriatric Nurse Practitioner MD

By Deborah Patterson


Studies have shown that the general population continues to age at a rapid pace. The number of elderly people in society far outnumber people under the age of 18 as well as individuals between the ages of 19 to 55. With this segment of the population growing by huge numbers each day, it is little wonder that there is such a huge need for healthcare workers dedicated to the elderly. By studying to become a geriatric nurse practitioner MD students like you could enjoy a rewarding and lucrative lifelong career.

As you embark on your educational journey, it can be challenging to remember you will even have patients assigned to you at some point in the future. However, your undergraduate studies will remind you of this fact as you study subjects that will range from mathematics to psychology. These classes will give you an introduction into the topics and lessons you are expected to know once you formally embark on this career path.

Once you finish your undergraduate program, you will most likely be required to take a post-graduate degree program at a master's level. Your courses will involve more one-on-one encounters with the elderly. You likewise will be expected to take advanced lessons in organic chemistry since you most likely will have to prescribe or at least know what types of medications your patients will take.

Your post-graduate program will also likely include several rounds of clinical experiences where your university adviser will send you to work with aged patients at nursing homes, in intensive care units, rehab hospitals, and other facilities that cater to people in this age demographic. Your adviser could expect you to report back on those experiences. You also could have to create a thesis that you must defend before your advisers before you graduate.

After graduating with a master's degree in this field, you then are expected to become certified or licensed depending on the state or federal requirements for the job. This process will usually involve you paying a fee to the agency that handles the licensing or certification. You also are expected to keep the credentials renewed as prescribed by either the state or the federal agency.

Some of the duties you can expect to encounter in your line of work involves making sure your patients eat right and get enough exercise. Proper diet and exercise are crucial to prolonging a healthy life. Your patients will look to you to guide them in what they should eat each day as well as how much exercise they should get on a daily basis.

As someone who tends to patients in this age group, you most likely will see your fair share of death and dying experiences. Your patients may ask you to help them cope with their impending demises. You could be instrumental in helping them come to terms with the fact that they are dying and coming to an end of their natural lives.

The duties you can expect to encounter as a nurse for the geriatric population can improve the lives of your patients. Your studies will most likely begin early when you first enroll in college or at a university. You later will finish a graduate program complete with hands on clinical rounds working with actual patients in this demographic.




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