Geriatric Project of a Patient

Geriatric Project Patient L.G. is a 92 year old black female, born and raised in Augusta GA. L.G. is the oldest of 6 children and has an 8th grade education. She had to leave school at an early age to help her parents who were “Field Hands” with her young siblings. L.G. spent most of her youth picking cotton alongside her parents and tending to her younger brothers and sisters and was unable to complete her education. L.G. was a very quick learner and very good with her hands. She always envisioned she would become a teacher but her interest in a career never materialized. L.G.’s dream only progressed to the point of teaching her parents what she learned while in school for such a short time. L.G. followed in her mother’s footsteps and when not working the cotton fields she made extra money as a cook and maid for a prominent family in Valdosta, GA. This line of work consumed her days and she eventually had to give up working the cotton fields and became a full-time housekeeper. Pursuing this line of work led L.G. to interest and activities she otherwise would not have been exposed to. L.G. enjoyed sewing, knitting, cooking and learned how to master these activities while performing them for not only the family she worked for, but for herself as well. At the age of 18, L.G. met a nice young man and they began dating. Eventually they decided to get married and start a family. L.G. got pregnant on 3 different occasions but unfortunately she had 3 miscarriages. This was very traumatic for her and she became very depressed. L.G’s husband was having a hard time finding employment and wanted to move to another town. The family that L.G. worked for decided to hire him as a “Grounds Keeper.” The work for L.G. and her husband was hard, the hours long, and the pay was extremely small but L.G. and her husband were grateful for the opportunity to make a living.
After thirty-five years of enjoying a picture of perfect health, the hard work started to take

References: Carl Jung, 1960 Carson & Arnold, 1996 Cumming & Henry, 1961 Meiner’s Gerontologic Nursing, 4th Ed. Sue Meiner, Theories of Aging Hayflick, 1988 Havighurst, Neugarten, & Tobin, 1963