She was feeling alone and isolated

Transition
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Introduction
Transition refers to the process of moving from one relative condition to another according to
Wilding et al, (2016). Human being especially the older moves from one life phase to another
when they encounter specific activities or health conditions. The process of transition is marked
with multiple changes. In older adults, the process of transition always relate to relocation to a
new living condition, chronic illness, loss or retirement of a spouse. For the purpose of this
assignment, it will examine how older adults face into loss of a beloved. Some of the
components of this assignment will be description of the transition, significance of the topic and
how nurses can respond to the transition.
Description of the transition faced by older adults
Losing a loved one is always characterized with stress and depression to certain extent according
to Annette et al, (2016). However, for the old generation, losing a loved always get them when
they are fighting other health issues. The outcome of the situation is that they start developing
other health complications. It is a period of transition that requires support from various people
including the family members and nurses. The following is an example of a case study to show
transition to grief in old people.
Martha is an 80 year old widow whose husband died two months ago after he was diagnosed
with leukemia. From the time Martha’s husband started ailing up to the time he died Martha
began a transition period that went past one year.
Psychosocial, existential, and familial responses to this transition
The Martha’s period of transition had a great influence to her and the family members around
her. Her daughter Sarah who was working and living abroad was forced to come back home.

Sarah always live with her husband and the teenage siblings. Prior to her father’s death, Sarah
used to visit their family once in a year. She had several family and work responsibilities. Apart
from that traveling back and forth was a huge expense to her. However, after her father’s death,
her mother started suffering from ischemic attack. She later started suffering from loss of
consciousness. Her daily living changed. She often experienced mental confusion. When these
problems escalated, friends and family members advised Martha to go to a retirement facility. In
this place she would get increased support and social contacts. Martha resisted the idea as her
home had several pictures of her husband. These pictures could bring back the memory.
Consequently, the problems went severe and that caused stress to her daughter and friends.
When her daughter Sarah was away she was so distressed that her health problems increased.
Her neighbor could not see her in the distressed mood. The neighbor decided to seek assistance
from clinical nurse. The nurse was operating in a local parish for a nursing program. Martha
agreed that the nurse could visit her for checkups. From the assessment it was evident that
Martha had emotional and physical challenges. She was feeling alone and isolated. She though
that her daughter wanted to deny her right to stay at home when she suggested she should move
to a retirement health facility. After that assessment, the nurse contacted Sarah. They agreed to
mobilize resources to ensure that Martha feel comfortable while at home.
Significance of this topic to the experience of the older adult
Loss of the beloved influences several aspects of adults life. Some of the implication of this
transition include reduced companionship, change in social status and minimum social
interactions according to Werner et al, (2019). However, the process of transition when a spouse
dies is different in women. When there was a close connection between husband and wife the
death of the husband increase the mortality rate. It is important to note that there are many