Chapter 42 Flashcards
Confusion & Dementia
cognitive function
memory, thinking, reasoning, judgement, behavior, ability to understand,
confusion
state of being disoriented to person, time, place, situation, identity
delirium
state of sudden / severe confusion, rapid changes in brief functions
- temporary / reversible
delusion
false belief
dementia
loss of cognitive function interfering w/ daily life / activites
elopement
patient / resident leaves agency w/o staff knowledge
hallucination
seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling, tasting something not real
paranoia
disorder of the mind
- false beliefs / suspicions of person / situation
sundowning
signs, symptoms, behaviors of dementia increase during darkness hours
what can cause delirium ?
- surgery
- drug side effects
- lack of sleep
- infection
what is dementia mainly caused by ?
- aging
- brain damage
who is more at risk for dementia ?
- over 65
- family history
- women (live longer)
alzheimer’s disease
most common permanent dementia
- brain shrinks / tissue lost over time
- gradual and progressive
- ends in death
vascular dementia
stroke / blood supply problems to brain
lewy body dementia
abnormal protein deposits (lewy bodies) affect chemicals in brain
fronto-temporal disorders
nerve cells in front / side of brain break down
mixed dementia
2 or more dementias occuring at once
plaques
protein build up between neurons
tangles
twisted protein fibers built up within neurons
classic sign of alzheimer’s
gradual loss of short-term memory
wandering
may have no cause / person is looking for something
- may end in elopement / injury
“silver alert” / “code silver”
older person is missing
- elopement
what can cause hallucinations ?
poor vision / hearingca
catastrophic reactions
extreme responses to normal / everyday things
- act as if there is a disaster / tragedy
