One of the roles of the registered nurse in an aged care environment is to reduce the risks of harm to an older person. An older person is at a higher risk of developing delirium. Discuss two (2) associated risk factors of delirium.

Describe strategies that could be implemented to minimise the associated risks.

Delirium is a disorder in mental abilities which results in perplexed thinking and lack of awareness of the surroundings. It happens in a usually rapid state- within a few hours or days. It is most common in elderly adults. If not taken care of properly, it can result in factors that can harm the elder’s people ( Eske, 2019). Delirium is the situation where elderly peoples are the ones who are most affected. This happens in them because their brain become resilient which can had severe memory loss and even can lead to a situation of hospitalization. Various factors can increase the risk of delirium. Some are intrinsic factors like age, chronic illness, sensory impairment(Dylan, 2019). Some are extrinsic factors like infectious, Metabolic, and many more. Some of the factors are discussed under:

• Brain disorders like dementia, Parkinson’s disease: If a person is not taken care of properly in the initial stage of Delirium, he/she become more prone to dementia (Mayoclinic, 2020). Dementia is similar to Delirium, where a person tends to lose his/her memory (Cleveland Clinic, 2020). It is a chronic disease and gradually worsens over time.
• Sensory Impairment: Sensory Impairment happens when one of the senses is no longer normal. There is a strong association of visual and hearing impairment with delirium. Vision and hearing may be lost or a person can have difficulty when a person is suffering from Delirium. Also, it can result in dehydration due to which urinary tract infections can be there because of which patients are afraid to drink (Morandi, et al., 2021).
• Polypharmacy can also be a risk factor as overprescribing medications can also pose a threat to health. Proper dosage should be taken, as excess intake of medicines can drastically affect people minds and behaviour (Hein, et al., 2014).

For minimizing the occurrence of delirium, prevention is the most effective strategy. Drugs named benzodiazepines or anticholinergics should be avoided (Korc-Grodzicki et al., 2015).

Clear communication and addressing sensory impairment help to minimize delirium risk. Use tool named “This is me” should be used as it helps to reduce older person agitation and improves experience (Dylan, 2019). Using short sentences and asking single questions also help in minimizing confusion thus helping in the improvement of delirium. Besides this, they should be given priority in minimizing their confusion by avoiding any room change. Strategies For Minimizing Risks Of Delirium In Aged Care Essay Paper They should regularly be reminded about where they are, what time it is. Certain Strategies like promoting good sleeping habits, sufficient light, good nutrition and maximum hydration can help a lot in reducing the severity of delirium (Brusie, 2018). For minimizing dehydration fluid balance chart, monitoring for UTI must be undertaken. Also, instead of taking over excessive doses of medicines, it is better to take pharmacist advice.

Using at least two of the NMBA Registered Nurse Standards for Practice, discuss how you will provide safe quality nursing care for a person exhibiting signs of delirium.

Ans: Delirium is mostly found in elderly people who are under hospitalization or are in care centres. Delirium is not an illness it is a group of signs or symptoms which are being seen mostly in the older patients who have gone through any surgery and are in care centres. Both the chosen standards 1 and 6 of NMBA can help to provide a safe and quality treatment to the patients, appropriate and responsive quality nursing practices, thinking critically and analyzing nursing practice (HealthinAging, 2022). As delirium can be handled by implementing evidence-based practices of these standards.

Risk Factors Associated With Delirium In Aged Care

Thinks critically and analyses nursing practice: in this standard practice registered nurses have to use a diversity of thinking approaches and the best obtainable pieces of evidence for decision making and providing safer, healthier and quality nursing practices inside a person-centred and proof-based agenda as patients have many signs which require different treatments (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2021). RNs have to critically evaluate the reports of the patient and analyze the best possible way of their treatment. RNs usually accesses, examines and practice the best accessible evidence in which research discoveries for safe quality performance are included(Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2021).

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Provides safe, appropriate and responsive quality nursing practices: this practice helps the nursing sector in creating and maintaining a safer environment for the patients who are suffering from Delirium. As the RNs provide quality and principled goal-focused actions. For example, if any patient is having any issue with the environment, then RNs can help them by giving examples of other patients who are having a great experience with the place and by this RNs can make them calm mentally as well as make them believe that they are safe at the centres. This will provide a better and safer environment experience for the patent for a better quality of practice (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, 2021).

An older person with cognitive impairment is at greater risk of malnutrition, dehydration, falls, pressure injuries, developing incontinence, and medication issues. Discuss why family involvement is an essential element of care for a person with cognitive impairment.

For a person suffering from cognitive impairment family involvement has an important role in taking care of the patients.  The person experiences a noticeable lowering in mental abilities such as memory and thinking skills, cognitive impairment is a condition where the person has problems with their memory, thinking, language or judgement. Cognitive impairment can be from mild to severe, the person can have trouble in remembering basic things such as -eating or drinking, trouble in concentrating or learning and it can affect their lives here the family or the caretakers can provide basic things and help them in taking their medications in time. In hospitals, half of the patients are over 65 years of age, for treating cognitive impairment such as dementia or delirium medications are given according to the patient’s seriousness the involvement of the family plays a major role in treating a patient (Rieck, Pagali, & Miller, 2020). It is seen that in old age, people are not able to make decisions for themselves. They become stubborn and sometimes forget or refuse to take medicines. The family provides a calm and comfortable environment for them. In a research, it was found that most of the old aged patients and family caregivers wanted a family dominance or involvement of family in the treatment as one feel calm and safe when they are with the family. (Shin, et al., 2018). Family involvement in patient’s care has multiple benefits such as giving the details and additional information of the patient, assistance in providing care at home and hospitals, providing extra safety and also being involved in decision making (Volker, Taher, & Jazieh, 2020). The family soothes the agitated patients and provides recognized objects at home, in some cases involvement of family or family members in sitting with the patient or assisting helps the patient with great benefit (Caplan, Cumming, & Kurrle, 2016).

References

Brusie, C. (2018, April 24). Everything You Should Know About Sleep Talking. https://www.healthline.com/health/sleep-talking

Caplan, G. A., Kurrle, S. E., & Cumming, A. (2016). Appropriate care for older people with cognitive impairment in hospital. The Medical Journal of Australia, 205(10), S12–S15. https://doi.org/10.5694/mja15.00898

Cleveland Clinic. (2020, September 09). Delirium. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15252-d

Dylan, F. B. (2019). Delirium risk in non-surgical patients: a systematic review of predictive tools. Archives of gerontology and geriatrics, 83, 292-302

Eske, J. (2019, October 15). What to know about delirium. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326684

Healthinaging. (2022, January 27). Delirium https://www.healthinaging.org/a-z-topic/delirium

Hein, C., Forgues, A., Piau, A., Sommet, A., Vellas, B., & Nourhashémi, F. (2014). Impact of polypharmacy on occurrence of delirium in elderly emergency patients. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 15(11), 850.e11–850.e8.5E15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2014.08.012

Korc-Grodzicki, B., Root, J., & Alici, Y. (2015). Prevention of post-operative delirium in older patients with cancer undergoing surgery. Journal Of Geriatric Oncology, 6(1), 60-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jgo.2014.10.002

Mayoclinic. (2020, September). Delirium. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/delirium/symptoms-causes/syc-20371386

Morandi, A., Inzitari, M., Udina, C., Gual, N., Mota, M., Tassistro, E., Andreano, A., Cherubini, A., Gentile, S., Mossello, E., Marengoni, A., Olivé, A., Riba, F., Ruiz, D., de Jaime, E., Bellelli, G., & Italian Study Group of Delirium (2021). Visual and Hearing Impairment Are Associated With Delirium in Hospitalized Patients: Results of a Multisite Prevalence Study. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 22(6), 1162–1167.e3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2020.09.032

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. (2021, March 30). Safety and quality guidelines for nurse practitioners.  https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Codes-Guidelines/Safety-and-quality-guidelines-for-nurse-practitioners.aspx

Rieck, M. K., Pagali, S., & Miller, D. M. (2020). Delirium in hospitalized older adults. National Library of Medicine, 3-16.

Shin, D. W., Cho, J., Roter, D. L., Kim, S. Y., Park, J. H., Yang, H. K., Lee, H. W., Kweon, S. S., Kang, Y. S., & Park, K. (2018). Patient’s Cognitive Function and Attitudes towards Family Involvement in Cancer Treatment Decision Making: A Patient-Family Caregiver Dyadic Analysis. Cancer research and treatment, 50(3), 681–690. https://doi.org/10.4143/crt.2017.201

Volker, S., Taher, S., & Jazieh, A. R. (2020). Involving the Family in Patient Care: A Culturally Tailored Communication Model. Global Journal on Quality and Safety in Healthcare, 33-37.  Strategies For Minimizing Risks Of Delirium In Aged Care Essay Paper