How Osteoarthritis Affects an Older Person's Ability to Perform Their Day-to-Day Activities - Essay Example

Osteoarthritis

Introduction

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint condition and one of the most common chronic joint conditions or arthritis. A joint is where two bones are connected, and the protective tissue at the end of these bones is called cartilage. Osteoarthritis is associated with the breakdown of cartilage, causing the bones to rub together at the joint (Glyn-Jones et al., 2015). As a result, the individual might experience pain and stiffness, among other symptoms. In this essay, the focus will be on the issues allied to OA and which might affect patient safety in the clinical environment. The essay will also discuss how the condition affects an older person's ability to perform their activities of daily living safely. Finally, the essay will discuss implications for patient safety to be considered when devising nursing care plans for OA.

Osteoarthritis Issues impacting patient safety in the clinical environment

The most common OA issues that interfere with patient safety in the clinical environment include reduced mobility and anxiety. Impaired physical mobility is one common issue of OA that affects patient safety in the clinical environment. It is the restraint in independent, purposeful physical movement of the body or some parts of the body. When cartilage wears out or breaks down, the bone surfaces become rough and this will often cause pain within the joint as well as irritation in tissues surrounding the joint. Since the cartilage does not contain blood vessels, it cannot repair itself. As a result, there will be a bone-to-bone contact when an individual tries to move. The pain associated with this contact will be intense hence reduced mobility. Mostly, OA occurs in knees, hips, hands, spine, and fingers. Based on where OA is located, an individual’s mobility will be reduced for that part which will affect the overall way of doing things including walking, sleeping position, lifting things, feeding using hands, and a wide range of activities both in the clinical environment and at home. Above all, patient safety is at risk considering that poor mobility increases cases of patient falls.

According to Marks (2016), anxiety is a common psychological disorder and a potential moderating factor in addressing OA. Anxiety is a state of uneasiness and distress that occur in various forms and common in individuals suffering from various health conditions. Mostly, it affects an individual’s physical and social-wellbeing, functionality, and overall health status and quality of life. With anxiety, OA patient will often be worried, feel agitated, appear restless, hard to concentrate, fatigue, irrational fears, and avoid social situation (Julson, 2018). Patient safety is significantly affected by anxiety considering that the OA patient will have more functional limitations. Also, the patient will hardly adhere to treatment regimens, and will be at a higher risk of developing other health complications (Arthritis Foundation, 2017).

How Osteoarthritis affects the older persons’ ability to perform their activities of daily living

According to Clynes et al. (2019), due to the progressive condition of OA, the ability to perform ADLs decreases over time. Individuals living with OA especially damage to weight-bearing joints such as knees, feet, and hips experience mobility issues which in turn affect their ability to work and perform activities of daily living. According to Stamm et al. (2016), joint pain in the knees significantly discourages walking. Similarly, climbing stairs is another daily activity which becomes problematic among OA patients experiencing physical limitations either by hip, knee, foot, or ankle joint pain (Hughes, 2019). Other daily activities might require kneeling, stooping, or even bending. However, pain and stiffness of the knee, hip, foot, spine, and ankle can significantly interfere with an individual’s ability to do allied activities (Clynes et al., 2019).

Good grooming is also affected by OA. Every person like to look clean and smart. However, for OA patients, simple tasks such as combing hair and other grooming tasks that depend on manual skill will be challenged. Good grooming requires the movement of the hand, wrist, shoulder, elbow, and even neck but when all these parts are painful and stiff, it becomes hard to groom (Hughes, 2019). Hygiene is also affected by OA where washing and drying the body and even using the toilet becomes difficult. Eating is another daily activity that is challenged by OA. Picking a spoon or a fork and lifting the food to the mouth becomes difficult. Another activity of daily leaving is cleaning and housework. Individuals always want to keep their living environment clean. However, cleaning the house and performing other house chores becomes a big challenge for OA patients (Clynes et al., 2019). For instance, the movement required for mopping, sweeping, and even vacuuming is limited due to the worsening joint pain.

Implications for patient safety in developing of nursing care plans for Osteoarthritis

First, it is necessary to provide OA patients with adaptive equipment that will encourage self-care. The most common adaptive equipment includes canes and walkers that will assist in moving from one place to another (Belleza, 2019; Martin, 2019). Other equipment includes utensils and grooming products that have large handles. The grooming products might include hairbrush and toothbrush. Notably, OA patients with pain and stiffness in their hands, elbows, and wrist experience difficulties in performing activities of daily living especially feeding. Therefore, the patients should be offered equipment and encouragement that will improve their independence.

Second, there is a need to initiate fall precautions. Damage of the joints causes weaknesses and OA patients are at a higher risk of falls and injuries (Piva et al., 2015). Therefore, initiating fall precautions will help to prevent unnecessary falls. Precautions to take include providing hand rails, providing patients with non-slip shoes or socks, ensuring adequate lighting, and clearing walkways. Finally, there is a need to assisting OA patients with ambulation and activities of daily living. Often, patients are unsteady and scared about ambulation (Fukutani et al., 2016). Therefore, it is necessary to help them with transfers and walking. In this case, gait belts can be used and also assist the patients with their activities of daily living.

Conclusion

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint condition that significantly affects an individual’s mobility. From the first part of the essay, impaired physical mobility and anxiety have been identified as the most common issues that affect patient safety in the clinical environment. Social interaction and challenges adhering to treatment regiment are caused by anxiety. O the other hand, impaired physical mobility puts the patient at a higher risk of falls. Also, activities of daily living including hygiene, eating, cleanliness, walking, and grooming will significantly be affected by the impaired physical mobility. However, when devising a nursing care plan for OA patient, implications for patient safety that should be considered include providing patients with adaptive equipment or devices, initiate fall precautions, and assisting with ambulation and activities of daily living.