Delirium and its Adverse Effects on Elderly Patients

Delirium and Its Adverse Effects on
Elderly Patients in the Critical Care Environment
This paper is designed to address the adverse effects of delirium associated with adult ICU patients with an emphasis on the elderly. Delirium is an acute state of confusion, attention, and perception. Though usually reversible, delirium is characterized by an inability to pay attention, disorientation, an inability to think clearly, and a fluctuation in ones level of consciousness (Aguirre, 2009). These changes develop over a short period of time and often result from and underlying medical condition, substance abuse or both (Fong, Tulebaev, and Inouye, 2009).
As a result of this research, the intention is to emphasis how the clinical nurse can positively impact the outcome of a patient suffering from delirium by implementing evidence based guidelines through the use of routine assessment tools, utilizing family members, and reducing the adverse effects associated with delirium.
Impact of the Issue
Circumstances surrounding the issue. Delirium is quite common in the hospital setting, especially ICU (cite). All ages can be affected but statistics confirm that cognitive impairment most often impacts individuals over 65 years of age (Khan, Calvo-Ayala, and Ionescu, 2009). Symptoms of delirium may be characterized by agitation, confusion, anger, disorientation, restlessness, and aggressive behavior (Aguirre, 2010).
Individual and societal impact of the issue. Recent studies have shown that undiagnosed and untreated delirium can become chronic and create a sequence of permanent events that might impact a person’s life forever. The elderly individual may experience loss of independence, institutionalization, or death. According to Aguirre (2010)...

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...is, prevention and treatment. Retrieved from US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health website: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3065676/.
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Sendelbach, Sue. & Guthrie, Patty. (2009). Acute Confusion/Delirium Identification, Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 35(11), 11- 18. doi:10.3928/00989134-20090930-0.