week 14

I decided to comment on Maslow's hierarchy of needs. In the text, the first is physiology: the need to satisfy hunger. Second is safety: the need to feel that the word is organized and predictable and the need to feel safe, secure, and stable. Third is love and belonging: the need to love and be loved, to belong and be accepted and the need to avoid loneliness and alienation. Fourth is success and esteem: the need for self-esteem, achievement, competence, and independence and the need for recognition and respect from others. Last is self-actualization: the need to live up to one's fullest and unique potential. I work in a hospital and I have seen some older adults (not elderly, that's not what this chapter discussed) in very ill conditions. I believe the first emotion is depression that I see a person express when they are not their normal environment and stuck in a unit like ICU. The next is the desire for water, that meets the first hierarchy need. Second, would be that the person does not want to fall, so we offer assistance or a walker for when the patient gets out of bed or when they fear their condition could turn. Third, would be when all they want to do is see their spouse. Fourth, and this usually comes from someone who is in the hospital for a prolonged period of time, they fear that they would be let go from their job and they worry about what could happen to their family. Last, and this goes along with success and self- esteem, a patient can worry about what would happen to their family if they lose their job or they feel that they are at blame for what is wrong with their family.

Not every patient is in the hospital long enough for all of these stages to be seen. For these to be seen in such a short time of a hospital stay, a patient would have to be really sick. We do not usually have patients who stay longer than a month, but on rare occasions, we have patients who are there for a long period of time and these stages of Maslow's can definitely be seen in adult hospital stays.