2．Nursing Diagnoses and Nursing Care of Older Persons in Long Term Care

　Nursing Diagnoses have much to contribute to the practice of nursing of older persons. The use of nursing diagnoses and other standardized languages by nurses is needed if nursing is to meet the current and future challenges in the care of older persons. To set the stage for the discussion of nursing diagnoses and the elderly, we will first examine the context for care of older persons, and for nursing, in both Japan and the United States. There are many similarities in the two countries. The increasing number of persons over 65 is a major impetus to examine the health care systems and plan for meeting increased demands.