Setting performance goals In geriatric nursing

Abstract

Behavioural techniques are increasingly being applied in the geriatric field as part of a broader emphasis on psychological and social treatments in the care of the elderly. The nurse is in the best position to analyse a patient's performance and manage an intervention programme; however, some nurses have had little experience of autonomously diagnosing problems and setting performance goals. The authors argue that it is important to set such goals and give examples of how performance may be objectively specified, prerequisites made explicit, criteria for success defined and the consequences of goal attainment or non-attainment discussed with those most concerned. A complex situation drawn from the geriatric setting which was used as part of a teaching workshop to help nurses define suitable targets for intervention is described in the Appendix.