COMPREHENSION ON THE AGING AND ACTIONS TAKEN BY NURSE IN PRIMARY HEALTH CARE

Abstract

The study aimed to understand the perceptions of nurses about the aging process as well as identify the actions performed by the nurses. Subjects of the study were the nurses who belonged to the municipal health department of a Midwestern city of Paraná. The period of data collection took place in June and July of 2009, through semistructured interviews with two guiding questions. For data analysis, the Bardin analysis was used. For the study subjects this process is characterized by the progressive depreciation of adaptability and biological reserve of the organism in which the loss of biological functions psychological and social changes are directly linked to quality of life and well being of the elderly, influencing the ability or capacity to perform tasks or activities of daily living. In some primary health care settings is a lack of primary actions performed by nurses and when they are available it is population initiative, or delegated to other health professionals. It was concluded that nurses know the aging process mostly in the biological aspect, getting some action under other health professionals supervision or even from the community not maintaining daily contact and continuing with this and with the elderly.