1. Introduction

Nowadays, we consider elderly a person who has over 65 years.

In Spain, geriatrics is the branch of medicine that studies the diseases of the elderly, unlike gerontology, which is the science that studies the aging process. Here, in gerontology, nursing is where we have a big role, because we treat more closely with them.

Gerontological nursing competencies:

The primary objective in the field of nursing is to provide comprehensive care to the elderly, in an action level in both community and institutional. For this, the nurse must:

• Responsibility for the care process, ensuring individual attention, assessing their needs, limitations, resources and capabilities, order to achieve prioritize their problems and thus establish a plan of nursing care which take place to achieve a number of objectives and planning activities for the elderly achievable, allowing you to achieve a degree of autonomy according to the evaluation of the results of its intervention.
• Develop disease prevention activities taking into account the fragility found in these old, previously identified risk situations.
• Participate in the multidisciplinary team, assuming the role that corresponds to exchange views and knowledge with other professionals.
• Perform ongoing analysis of his activity, based on research, to encourage, to the extent possible, training in the field of gerontology
• Take responsibility of your actions and decisions (always based on bioethical principles of beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy and justice).
• Also, gerontological nurse shall have knowledge and skills that enable it to assume responsibility for their actions and decisions, be responsible for the design and development of the care plan using nursing diagnoses. The nurse should be grounded in gerontological code.

  

  In my opinion, all nurses should know the characteristics of comprehensive care for older people, since, almost all services in which nurses work, we will be in contact with elderly patients.

    Bibliography

• Mary M; Mary B. Enfermería gerontológica. Cuidados integrales del adulto mayor (2ªed.). Madrid; Burke & Walsh. 
• SEEG. Sociedad española de geriatría y gerontología. [Monografía de internet]. [Fecha de consulta 5 de abril de 2013]. Disponible en: http://www.arrakis.es/~seegg/principios_enf_geront.html