This semester I had to take gerontology, there were many topics that we went over, some that were a review and somethings that were knew to me. Two topics that I will take with me throughout my nursing career/ have provided me insight include the Beers criteria and pharmacokinetics of aging adults as well as the misconceptions about ageing. Overall, I will take many aspects from this class into my everyday life as well as my nursing career.

            There are many misconceptions that people have about the older population, for example many people think that those who are 65 and older have many diseases or cannot travel or enjoy life like they once did or even that they don’t have sex. All these ideas are incorrect, many people 65 and older live very healthy lives and enjoy everything they did when they were 20 like sky diving, riding horses or traveling. While taking this course, we had to interview someone 65 and older, when doing this I learned a lot from this person, and even realized that sometimes I also perceive older people like society does and put them in a box of misconceptions. The person that I interviewed is 74 and some of the things they were telling us like how they go on boat cruises all the time and a bucket list item is to sky dive, surprised me because I just didn’t think they would be something that would happen. I think that after talking with this person and all the presentations we have had I will interact with the older population differently and treat them just like any other person.

            Another thing that I will take with me is that a lot of the older population is on medication, whether that be a daily vitamin or because they have a health problem. As a nurse an having an older patient I will keep in the back of my head the Beers criteria, which is a list of medication that is potentially harmful to older adults. I will always be thinking of this especially when giving a medication to an older adult or when going over medications that they already take. Many older adults take medications that have more than one drug and those can interact with other medications they are on, so knowing the interactions between medications and that there are some that can lead to delirium is important.