J Gerontol Nurs
-
Advanced dementia is a terminal condition; however, research has revealed that affected individuals are subjected to multiple intrusive and burdensome interventions. Individuals with advance dementia require palliative care long before their death. This article reviews selected approaches that support personhood, explain behavior management principles, assure meaningful connections for activities of daily living, minimize weight loss, and explain advance directives and medical management best practices in palliative care for advanced dementia.
-
Expansion and diversification of the older adult demographic group is a key indication that nurses need to be aware of current recommended practice related to the most common mental health diagnoses in this age group. Such conditions include depression, anxiety, dementia, delirium, and substance abuse/dependence. This article, the second in a two-part series, focuses on key assessment components and suggested interventions for dementia, delirium, and substance abuse/dependence.
-
Delirium is a prevalent, costly, and global problem in older adults. This article is a systematic review of the literature on nurse recognition of delirium. ⋯ The most compelling finding is that although related, the notions of nurse knowledge of delirium, nurse recognition of delirium, and nurses' assessment and documentation of delirium in older adults are different. Recommendations for practice are suggested at several levels, including education, guidelines, communication, health care system, and use of informatics.
-
Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia among older adults. Valvular heart disease, dilated cardiomyopathy, aortic stenosis, hypertension, coronary artery disease, pericarditis, thyrotoxicosis, pulmonary disease, cardiac surgery, alcohol excess, and alcohol withdrawal are associated with atrial fibrillation. ⋯ This article presents an individual example of an elderly man exhibiting a new onset of atrial fibrillation and the interventions required to manage the associated complications. Atrial fibrillation places patients at risk for stroke from a thromboembolism; thus, pharmacological and nonpharmocological care strategies for managing patients with atrial fibrillation are discussed.
-
The purpose of this article is to compare the advantages and limitations of developed depression assessment tools and provide recommendations for clinical staff to select an appropriate tool for use with Chinese older adults. A total of 7 Western tools translated into Chinese and 4 tools developed specifically for assessing Chinese older adults were found in 12 articles. ⋯ A reasonable strategy to efficiently assess depression in Chinese older adults is to first administer the Single Question or Geriatric Depression Scale-4 (GDS-4). If depression is likely, the Chinese GDS-15 could be used to increase the probability of identifying depression in Chinese older adults.