Managing Confusion: Geriatric Patients A patient goes through numerous changes in their life as they enter the healthcare facility, but the psychological changes effect geriatrics in an intense manner. The loss of cognitive functioning can happen at any time throughout hospitalization, but the difficult situation can be aided by the manger of care. The manager of care, commonly referred to as the nurse, can begin handling the difficult situation of confusion before it even begins. The nursing process begins as they constantly assess the patient and document any changes that could possibly be signs of dementia or deliria. The use of early detection through assessment, communication, well-developed values, simplified tasks, and a structured …show more content…
With the nurse’s continuous attention to detail, early detection as previously stated can and will be used to find symptoms of confusion, dementia, or delirium. Research done in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society states that efforts to identify, prevent, and treat this condition may reduce the risk of adverse outcomes in older hospitalized patients (Givens, J. L., Jones, R. N., Inouye, S. K, 2009). As the nurses make detailed observations in their assessments, early identification, will be able to occur …show more content…
They can better the people experiencing the illnesses, their families, and other formal carers in the facility by constantly using their nursing process, paying attention to detail for early detection of problems, always assessing, communicating with well-developed values, providing simplified tasks, and maintaining a structured daily routine (Murray, 2014). The end goal is to provide individuals treatment for their behavioral symptoms that leads them to being discharged, but the journey from admission to the day they leave for home or a residential setting will and is aided by the countless nursing roles and responsibilities that they display
Lemiengre, J., Nelis, T., Joosten, E., Braes, T., Foreman, M., Gastmans, C., et al. (2006). Detection of Delirium by Bedside Nurses Using the Confusion Assessment Method. The American Geriatrics Society , 685-689.
Staff should be able to identify the most common signs and symptoms of dementia that can
A registered nurse (RN) is someone that went through a university or college and studied nursing; and then passed the national licensing exam to obtain a license to practice nursing. The degree earned by an RN at the need of the program is deemed a professional nursing degree. The RN top nursing staff and they usually works independently. On the hand, an LPN only earns a practical nursing degree after completion of the program. LPNs are mostly recognized only in USA and Canada; they are also named as License Vocational Nurse (LVN) in the state of California and Texas. LPN work under the supervisor of an RN or a physician.
In the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), patients are being monitored very closely while their vital signs, their neurological status, and their physical status are being managed with strong medications, lifesaving machines, and the clinical knowledge and skills of trained ICU nurses. Outside of the ICU, it is essential for staff nurses to identify the patient that is clinically deteriorating and in need of urgent intervention.
The framework of this model is utilized throughout hospital settings to form a basis for all nursing decisions in respect to nursing diagnosis, care plans, discharge planning, and quality assurance (Reynolds & Cormack, 1991). This conceptual model focuses on the effects of internal and external environments that contribute to someone’s behavior. Pain (being the internal force) in patients with altered mental status usually manifests externally in non-verbal cues. Nursing as the external force can use tools that focus on the non-verbal cues given by the patients to accurately assess the pain and properly treat it.
According to the American Nurses Association, nursing is defined as “the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, facilitation of healing, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, groups, communities, and populations” (American Nurses Association, 2016). Nurses have many jobs and responsibilities and wear many different hats. Nurses can perform at many different levels depending on their scope of practice which is defined by the board of nursing in one’s state of residence. It is important as nurses to understand and follow
According to Chalmers, assessment of oral health is generally dependent upon the ability of the resident to self identify problems with their oral health and their ability to cooperate and communicate with the nursing staff(3). This illustrates a problem with those patients who do not have the cognitive ability to self identify dental problems and then effectively communicate those problems to professionals. This is extremely common with patients who suffer from dementia.
“We can’t turn away from a patient’s pain just because it’s difficult” (chapman, 2015, p. 88). I know the path of least resistance is taking a path of ignorance. Easy, is to ignore or neglect the true pain patients experience in times of crisis. As caregivers I believe we all want to heal others or we wouldn’t be in the field of nursing, but there are only handfuls willing to be present during the healing process because sharing one’s pain hurts. As a surgical nurse, I find being genuinely present takes hard work on my behalf, not only mentally but emotionally. On a unit where patient’s needs and conditions are changing at astonishing rates, being present requires mental strength in order slow down enough to recognize the value presence
There are many who believe that the next shortage will be worse and the demand for nurses will increase. There will be more jobs available especially with the baby boomer nurses retiring. Wood believes that when nurses retire, the next shortage could be even worse than the previous shortage. According to Wood this would lead to an “intellectual drain of institutional and professional nursing knowledge” (Wood, 2011, para 15). Staiger agrees as well that a shortage of nurses is expected again when nurses retire and since the economy will be more stable full-time nurses will go back to being part-time (Huston, 2017). Huston expects for the supply of nurses to grow minimally in the next couple of years and for a large number of nurses
Ask someone to depict a nurse, what will they tell you? Many hold the stance that the nursing profession is composed of angelic people in starched white uniforms, primarily women, whose main focus is patient care and following doctor’s orders. This image, though iconic and attractive to some, is not accurate when applied to modern nurses. In an effort to assess the attributes currently needed of nurses, I interviewed Jordan Kreklau. Ms. Kreklau is 25 years old and attained her BSN from The University of Eau Claire in May 2014. After attaining her RN license in July 2014, she was hired on for the medical/surgical unit at St. Joseph’s in Marshfield, WI, where she had worked as a graduate student. In 2015, she also began working in a progressive
Within the U.S. Healthcare system there are different levels of healthcare; Long-Term Care also known as (LTC), Integrative Care, and Mental Health. While these services are contained within in the U.S. Healthcare system, they function on dissimilar levels.
...managing the environment for the benefit of the patient to help reduce risk factors. Supportive measures by the nurse such as attention to noise reduction and lighting should be implemented to all patient care settings. The nurse should be proficient in their assessment method. The bedside nurse is in a front-line position to manage and prevent delirium.
Complex care of patients provides the nurse with a myriad of decisions to be made-however, it must be remembered that although the
Falls are a common cause of death for people over the age of 65. Following accidents, fall related mortality rate has relatively stayed constant over the last four decades. The dementia disorder continues to add an increase in fall-risk. Despite their knowledge about these conditions, nursing staffs have been unsuccessful mostly in their attempts to prevent falls among impaired cognition patients. The objective of this study was to get a thorough understanding of the nursing staff’s thoughts and opinions of falls in older patients who suffer from dementia. Causes of the falls, fall-preventing interventions, routines of documentation and reporting and the nurses experience from when the fall took place were also collected and used in this study (Struksness et al., 2011).
As our aging population increases, so will the number of people who develop dementia. This condition is distressing for everyone involved, including the patient, family, and caregiver. As research continues, there is hope for a better quality of life for those affected. It is important to increase awareness, encourage prevention, and to be aware of the early signs and symptoms. Each case of dementia presents itself differently, so it is important to know there are different types of dementia along with slightly different signs and symptoms. The sooner dementia can be recognized and intervened, the greater the outcome for the patient.