Informative speech topics about nursing

Informative Speech Outline

John Student

COMS 101 Section ___

September 7, 2015

Organization: Topical pattern

Audience analysis: My audience consists of two white college-aged women and a middle-aged white man, all of whom are college-educated, who attend a small Methodist church in the coal fields of southern West Virginia. Each is unemployed or has a close relative who is unemployed.

Topic: The elder care vocation presents unique opportunities for advancing what God values by promoting the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being of older people.

General Purpose: To inform

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience how the elder care vocation can be a platform for promoting the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being of older people, something God values according to Scripture (Lev. 19:32; Job 12:12; Prov. 16:31; Isa. 46:3–4).

Introduction:

I. Attention-getter

According to Dr. Cathleen Carr, an eldercare specialist and founder of CetifiedCare, ‘The demand for elder caregivers is growing rapidly as the population of the United States faces record growth in the elderly population.’”[footnoteRef:1] Indeed, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for personal care aides will climb 70.5% between 2010 and 2020” (BLS).[footnoteRef:2] [1: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/1/prweb9119048.htm] [2: http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_103.htm]

II. Motive for Listening

Elder care is an emerging job field with rewarding opportunities for people who want secure jobs, like many of you, could consider.

III. Credibility Statement

I have gained an understanding of this job field through my work as an elder care volunteer for the past two years and through formal research.

IV. Purpose or Thesis Statement

If you are looking for a career opportunity through which you can make a God-honoring difference in people’s lives, elder care is an emerging job field that could give you the excellent opportunity for which you seek.

V. Preview Statement

During the minutes that follow, I will explain discuss this job field, showing you, first, that America is an aging nation, second, that the nation has a growing need for elder care specialists and, third, that the elder care field presents great opportunities for interacting with people in a way that God values according to Scripture.

Transition: Let’s take a closer look at this.

Body:

I. Main Point 1. America’s population is aging.

A. According to statistics from the United Nations Population Division, the percentage of Americans who are age 65 and older has grown from 8.3% in 1950, to 9.8% in 1970, to 12.3% in 1990, to 13% in 2010. This figure is expected to grow to 19.8% in 2030 and 21.6% in 2050.[footnoteRef:3] [3: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/02/04/business/aging-population.html]

B. The Population Reference Board, in a 2011 report, attributed this shift to a number of factors, such as declining birth rates, reductions in mortality at older ages, and the advances in the treatment of diseases and chronic conditions.[footnoteRef:4] [4: http://www.prb.org/pdf11/aging-in-america.pdf]

C. As America’s older demographic grows, one reasonably infers, so will the demand for addressing the wants and the needs that older people often have.

Transition: This brings me to my second point.

II. Main Point 2. As America’s aging population grows, so does the nation’s need for elder care specialists.

A. Citing a variety of supportive studies, the University of Albany’s Center for Health Workforce Studies claimed, in 2006, that “[t]he expected growth of the older adult population in the U.S. over the next 50 years will have an unprecedented impact on the U.S. health care system, especially in terms of supply of and demand for health care workers.” The factors contributing to this increased demand include the following:[footnoteRef:5] [5: http://www.albany.edu/news/pdf_files/impact_of_aging_excerpt.pdf]

1. First, “Older adults are more likely to suffer from chronic illnesses (e.g., cancer, heart disease, diabetes) than younger people. About 84% of those age 65 and older suffer from at least one chronic condition, compared to 38% of those ages 20 to 44 . . .”

2. Second, “Older adults are more likely to require the services of health professionals as a result of injuries and illnesses due to greater physical vulnerability (e.g., they are more likely to break bones in falls; they are more likely to contract pneumonia as a consequence of influenza).”

3. Third, “Older adults have more limitations in terms of performing activities of daily living than younger people due to greater rates of physical and cognitive disability. Almost 35% of adults age 65 and older have an activity limitation, compared to about 6% of those ages 18 to 44 . . .”

4. Fourth, “Older adults consume far more prescription medications than younger people.”

5. Fifth, “Older adults consume more ambulatory care, hospital services, nursing home services, and home health care services than younger people. People age 65 and older average 706 ambulatory care visits per 100 people (compared to 291 visits per 100 people age 18–44); average 286.6 hospital discharges per 1,000 people (compared to 94.8 for ages 18-44); and constitute more than 70% of home health care patients . . .”

6. Sixth, “The needs and utilization patterns of baby boomer older adults may be different from those of current older adults in important ways, and this will also affect the demands placed on the health care system in the future.”

7. Seventh, “Baby boomer older adults will have a smaller pool of potential family caregivers than current older adults. They have had fewer children than their parents, and are more likely to have had no children (more than 12% of women in this cohort are childless . . . They are also more likely to be divorced (lifetime divorce rates are projected to be 53% for the cohort . . . and will thus be more likely to live alone as they enter old age.”[footnoteRef:6] [6: http://www.albany.edu/news/pdf_files/impact_of_aging_excerpt.pdf]

B. Further confirming this trend, the Alzheimer’s Association, in a 2004 report, projected that the United States would see an average 44 percent increase in Alzheimer’s Disease—a degerative mental disease often associated with aging—by the year 2025.[footnoteRef:7] [7: http://www.alz.org/alzwa/documents/alzwa_resource_ad_fs_ad_state_growth_stats.pdf]

C. With the emergence of this aging trend, the demand for health care workers is dramatically increasing. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that “healthcare is the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. economy, employing over 18 million workers.”[footnoteRef:8] [8: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/healthcare/]

Transition: This brings me to my final point.

III. Main Point 3. The elder care field presents great opportunities for interacting with people in a way that God values according to Scripture.

A. God values the well-being of older human life (Lev. 19:32; Job 12:12; Prov. 16:31; Isa. 46:3–4) and impaired human life (Matt. 14:14; 15:30; 20:34; Luke 4:18; 7:22).[footnoteRef:9] Elder care specialists clearly can promote this through their work. [9: Donald H. Alban Jr., Speech Communication: A Redemptive Introduction. Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 2012, 74.]

B. God also values our love for others (John 13:34–35; 15:12–17; Rom. 12:10; 16:16; 1 John 4:7-21).[footnoteRef:10] If authentic love for others motivates the elder care specialist to do his or her job, he or she promotes something God values by doing it. [10: Alban 75]

C. Finally, God values our compassion for others, and this includes the poor and oppressed and the sick (Matt. 25:31-46).[footnoteRef:11] [11: Alban 75]

Transition: This brings me to my conclusion.

Conclusion:

I. Summary

As I just demonstrated, America’s population is aging. As the nation’s aging population grows, so does its need for elder care health workers. Thus, a career in this field may be worth considering and not just because of the job opportunities it presents. Rather, a career in this field may be worth considering because it presents great opportunities for honoring God by helping the elderly, showing authentic love to them, and expressing compassion for those among them who are poor, oppressed, and sick.

II. Refocus Audience Attention/Create Closure

Are you looking for a job in which employment opportunities abound? Are you also looking for a job through which you can honor God by promoting what He values? The elder care job field might be the answer to your search.

Bibliography

“The Aging of America.” The New York Times. 5 Feb. 2011,

“Alzheimer’s disease growth: U.S.will see average 44 percent increase in Alzheimer’s disease by 2025.” Alzheimer’s Association. 2004. < http://www.alz.org/alzwa/documents/alzwa_resource_ad_fs_ad_state_growth_stats.pdf>

Alban, Donald H., Jr. Speech Communication: A Redemptive Introduction. Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 2012.

“America’s Aging Population.” Population Reference Bureau. Feb. 2011, < http://www.prb.org/pdf11/aging-in-america.pdf>.

“CertifiedCare Explains Development In Personal Care Aide Legislation That Protects The Rapidly Increasing Elderly Population.” PRWeb. 19 Jan. 2012, .

“Employment Projections.” Bureau of Labor Statistics. 1 Feb. 2012, < http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_103.htm>.

“Healthcare Workers.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 16 April 2013. < http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/healthcare/>.

“The Impact of the Aging Population on the Health Workforce in the United States: Summary of Key Findings.” Center for Health Workforce Studies. March 2006. < http://www.albany.edu/news/pdf_files/impact_of_aging_excerpt.pdf>.