Now, let's talk about the adolescent stage.
Now physically, there's a tremendous rate of growth,
and there's going to be some different bodily changes.
Sex specific changes of distribution of muscle and fat
for male and females.
And also the development of reproductive system.
Now, cognitively, we're really increasing hear
about the ability to think rationally,
and then working to develop really strong communication skills
in lots of various situations.
Now, psychosocially here,
we are searching here for a personal identity.
Now, this can be a little bit of a difficult time for adolescence.
So as a provider, be cognizant of this.
Now, this is where the adolescent may develop
their own ethical system,
and then they're going to start considering
those things of the future.
Now, again, important here to support development.
This is where some separation from the parents may come up,
and encourage them to talk with open-ended questions,
and do be really conscious about listening to them carefully.
Now, try your best to develop trust
and speaking at them at appropriate level.
Now, at this age, remember,
they have the cognitive ability to think rationally.
so have a careful, appropriate conversation.
And be careful not to make assumptions.
Now, do your best about not forcing conversation.
This can definitely cut down the lines of communication here.
Now, of course, during this age, there's a lot of pressures,
there's a lot of changes.
Expect some struggles with self-identity and sexuality,
and offer non-biased nonjudgmental support.
Also, just know that understand hormones
at this particular age
can definitely make adolescence emotionally labile.
Let's move into the young adult stage.
This is where we're talking about 18 to about 30 years of age.
Now, physically here, they could the growth and the fiscal changes
may get a little bit stable, not as many increases here.
However, the young adult female may become pregnant,
and that of course, would be a marked physical change.
Now, cognitively,
a lot of critical thinking habits are going to increase
and also have to be applicable
to their current situation or their work.
Now, in the psychosocial arena,
there's a lot of maturation, socialization,
that's important.
Now, goal setting, is really important here
as well as establishing healthy adult relationships.
Now, there's a big drive here to maybe even master the world
and go for future goals in their workplace,
or their social life, or just personally.
Now, again, important, of course, to support development,
in that transition from that adolescent to young adult.
That's definitely a big stressor and a large change for that person.
Now, this is a good time in nursing
to inquire about relationship status,
don't forget about that intimacy versus isolation stage,
their occupation, their goals, and maybe their social goals.
Here's a good time to assess for any barriers
and provide support as needed.
Now, looking at the stage of middle adult.
This is defined about mid-30s, through about late 60s.
Now physically, there can be some changes that may impact
how someone may feel about their body or their body image.
Now cognitively, changes here are pretty stable,
but there are some significant psychosocial changes.
One of those being what we call the sandwich generation.
Meaning the middle adult is kind of stuck in the middle here,
because many time at this ages,
there could be children that they're taking care of,
and also maybe even parents or older adults.
So therefore, they're in the middle as a primary caregiver.
And as you can imagine,
there's a lot of stressors that come along with this.
Now, middle of the adulthood,
there can be large career transitions,
sexuality, and family psychosocial events to consider.
Now here, many individuals are going to stress about
the ability to support themselves.
Remember, they're going to be in that sandwich generation.
So, they may have to support maybe children or older adults as well.
Now, being a patient and being ill in the hospital,
this can be a large stressor for this particular generation,
because of what we just talked about.
Independence is being taken away.
And again, they may have large responsibilities
with maybe children or older adults.
Now, it's important here at this particular stage
to assess for transitional changes, developmental changes,
menopause may come on here, prostate enlargement,
presence of disease.
So encouraged disease-specific screening,
and prevention measures, especially at this age.
Now, let's discuss the mature adult.
Now, physically, there is going to be
some physical decline here that occurs naturally over time.
And we're talking about the adult about 65 years and up.
And of course, that physical changes
is going to vary a lot amongst the individual.
And it's also going to depend on
the patient's activity and exercise, and health habits
before this stage.
Now cognitively,
there's a lot of ongoing learning and support
that can be provided.
But now, there is a case that the patient may experience
dementia or depression,
depending on the patient's cognitive status.
Now, psychosocially, this may be a stage
where they're able to retire.
There could be some differences
in housing, their environment, sexuality, the feeling of isolation,
and even illness and death.
Now, this is a particular stage
where there could be a lot of stressors
in accepting that the life that they lived.
This could have to do with being
proud of their accomplishments throughout their lifespan,
or maybe even a sense of failure.
Now, loss and grief is actually prevalent in this stage.
This could be in regards to maybe peer groups or support groups,
or even younger children.
Now, here's the big importance on this stage,
there is sometimes some declining independence
and the ability to care for themselves.
And as you can imagine,
this puts a lot of frustration and stress
on this particular developmental stage.
Here's one key note to remember, that pain and memory decline.
Those are actually not normal signs of aging.
But many times this particular age group
feels like this is a normal natural part of aging,
but we need to assess, and educate as needed.
Now, at this particular age,
it's very important to recommend disease-specific testing,
along with especially routine care and prevention visits
to prevent any complications with disease processes.