Write a 50-word comment for each of the below paragraphs and support with a reference.
When interviewing a patient that drives often it is imperative as nurses to ask questions regarding present medications, distance traveled, location of patients’ residence to most visited destination. By asking a question such as “Are you comfortable traveling to these destinations? If not, we can suggest local ride-share resources to help decreases this added stress to your life.”, the nurse is actively participating in the health and wellbeing of his/her patient. This need for the wellbeing of the patient is important as Miller (2019) states “Older adults have a higher fatality rate per mile drive than any other group over 25.” (p.109), proving how important these questions can be.
There are several risk factors that older adults have that can affect driving safely. As a individual ages, the normal process regarding this biological/physical change decreases motor reflexes, affects vision, and lowers cognitive function (Taylor, Bartlett & Lynn, 2015, p.573). All three of the before-mentioned changes greatly affect driving, as one must see properly to avoid obstacles. Decreased motor function affects response time which is also needed to avoid obstacles, such as a sharp curve or windy road. Lastly, being fully aware and alert to your surroundings is imperative, as it is needed to distinguish a gas station from a drive-thru bank.
Common referrals that a nurse can make to an older patient that drives often can be senior services such as ride-sharing options, grocery delivery, mobile dog groomers, and hairstylist. All these referrals can help alleviate drive time and be much more convenient for the patient.
A main component of our windshield paper is distance and safe road conditions to sites that an older patient visits often. Distance and road conditions correlate with a patient’s stress, vision acuity, conjunctive function, and current reflexes. Here is an example of how all 3 before-mentioned questions correlate with this current question. A nurse asks a patient with a history of hypertension if they are comfortable driving on a freeway with a speed limit of 70 mph to his favorite grocery store. The patient states he feels like his blood pressure increases due to the stress of driving on the freeway, which is a risk factor for driving, as the patient can suffer a cardiac issue. The nurse then can make a referral to a senior ride share service that visits the patient’s grocery store every two weeks and a mobile app that the patient can use to have his groceries delivered, thus proving how all components relate to the windshield paper.
