Abstract
AimDelirium is a serious, acute medical condition which places a heavy burden on the patient, his or her family and healthcare professionals. There have been only a limited number of studies to explore nurses' experiences of delirium and how delirium is identified in community care. The research questions of the study are as follows: “How do community care nurses' experience delirium?” and “How is delirium identified?”.DesignThis study has been designed as an explorative and descriptive study.MethodsA topic‐based interview guide was developed containing questions associated with the Registered Nurses' experiences of their meetings with people with delirium and their identification of delirium.ResultsNurses working in the community care need to know more about delirium as they play a key role in treatment. Our results also show that the participants have difficulty in establishing whether a patient is suffering from acute confusion/delirium, depression or dementia.
Highlights
Often referred to as “acute confusion,” is a serious, acute medical condition which places a heavy burden on the patient, his or her family and healthcare professionals (Neerland et al, 2013)
The occurrence of delirium increases with age, since advanced age is in itself a significant risk factor and it is reported to be present in 11%–42% of patients admitted to hospital who are 65 years old or older (Siddiqi et al, 2006)
The study aims to answer the research questions: How do community care nurses' experience delirium and how is delirium identified? The results show that more knowledge about delirium is imperative as nurses play a key role in treatment
Summary
Often referred to as “acute confusion,” is a serious, acute medical condition which places a heavy burden on the patient, his or her family and healthcare professionals (Neerland et al, 2013). The occurrence of delirium increases with age, since advanced age is in itself a significant risk factor and it is reported to be present in 11%–42% of patients admitted to hospital who are 65 years old or older (Siddiqi et al, 2006). For patients admitted to hospital with acute dementia, the prevalence is approximately 50% (Korevaar et al, 2005). Patients in the community care services are often diagnosed with compound chronic conditions, including dementia, and they use several types of medication
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
