title: Care of the traumatized older adult.
abstract: Older adults are experiencing excellent health and maintaining active lifestyles. They continue to engage in the activities they have enjoyed throughout their lives, but as they grow older they are at increased risk for injury related to these activities. Older adults suffer injuries of equivalent severity as those of younger patients; however, the consequences are much more severe. The older adult presents a unique and complex scenario that requires nurses to understand the normal physiological changes of aging and the effects of chronic disease. This article provides guidelines for the emergency care of the older adult patient with trauma and emphasizes areas that require special considerations.
authors.affiliation: Forsyth Memorial Hospital, Winston-Salem, N.C., USA.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Robbins
authors.forename: N F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Courts
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D016529:Emergency Nursing; D005260:Female; D005851:Geriatric Nursing; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009104:Multiple Trauma / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology / Q000451:nursing* / Q000503:physiopathology