[Exam 3] Chapter 24 - Cognitive Disorders Flashcards
What is cognition?
Ability to process, retain, and use information. Cognitive abilities include reasoning, judgement, perception, attention, and memory
What is a cognitive disorder?
Disruption or impairment in these higher level functions of the brain. Can have effects on ability to function in daily life. People forget names, and cannot perform tasks
Cognitive disorders were previously categorized as what?
dementia, delirium and amnesic disorders. Now are just called neurocognitive disorders.
Delirium: What is this?
Syndrome that involves disturbance of consciousness accompanied by a change in cognition. Usually develops over short period.
Delirium: What will this person struggle with?
Difficulty paying attention, are easily distracted and disoriented, and may have sensory disturbances such as illusions, misinterpretations or hallucinations
Delirium: How will they mistake electrical cord or banging of a laundry cart?
Appear as a snake and may mistake it for gunshot
Delirium: Most common group for this?
Elderly patients. 14-24% of those admitted to hospital are delirious.
Delirium: Percentage of those with general surgery, open heart surgery, and fractured hip surgery?
10-15%
30%
50%
Delirium: Often times, teh causes of delirium are due to multiple stressors such as?
Trauma to CNS , drug toxicity or withdrawal, and metabolic disturbances
Delirium: Risk factors for it?
severity of physical illness, older age, hearing impairment, decreased food and fluid intake, medications, and baseline cognitive impairments
Delirium & Etiology: Almost always results from what?
identifable physiological, metabolic, or cerebral disturbance or disease or from dug intoxication or withdrawal
Delirium & Etiology: Physiological or metabolic causes of this?
hypoxemia, electrolyte imbalance, renal failure, hypoglycemia, dehydration, sleep depirivation, thiamine or vitamin b12 deficiency
Delirium & Etiology: systemic infection causes?
sepsis, uti, pneumonia
Delirium & Etiology: cerebral infection causes?
meningitis, encephalitis, HIV syphilis
Delirium & Etiology: intoxication causes of this?
anticholinergics, lithium, alcohol, sedatives, and hyponotics
Delirium & Etiology: withdrawal causes of this?
alcohol, sedatives and hyponotics
Delirium & Treatment/Prognosis: Primary tx for this is what?
To identify and treat any casual or contributing medical condition. Always a transient condition that clears with successful tx of underlying cause
Delirium & Psychopharmacology: Tx for client with quiet, hypoactive delirium?
Need no specific pharmacologic tx aside from that indicated from the causative condition
Delirium & Psychopharmacology: What may be used for someone to prevent inadvertent self-injury?
Sedation
Delirium & Psychopharmacology: What medication will be used to decrease agitation and psychotic symptoms?
Antipsychotic med such as haloperidol (Haldol), in doses of 0.5 to 1 mg.
Delirium & Psychopharmacology: Information about Benzodiazepines like Lorzepam (Ativan)?
They’ve been used but may worsen delirium, especially in elderly.
Delirium & Psychopharmacology: When should benzodiazepines be used?
Resesrved for tx of sedative-hyponotic withdrawal.
Delirium & Psychopharmacology: What may person with impaired liver or kidney struggle with?
Could have difficulty metabolizing or excreting sedatives
Delirium & Psychopharmacology: How is delirium induced by alcohol treated?
Benzodiazepines
Delirium & Other Medical Tx: What other supporitve physical measures are needed?
Adequate nutritious food and fluid intake speed recovery. IV fluids or PRN may be necessary.
Delirium & History: What does nurse obtain from patient?
Alcohol and other drugs are obtained. Need to know OTC medications.
Delirium & General Appearance and Motor: How do they act motor wise?
Restless and hyperactive, frequently picking at bed clothes or making sudden uncontrolled attempts to get out of bed.
May also have slowed motor behavior, appearing sluggish and lethargic
What is acute confusion?
Abrupt onset of reversible disturbances of consciousness, attention, cognition, and perception that develop over shrot period of time
Delirium & General Appearance and Motor: How is speech?
Becomes less coherent and more difficult to understand. Client may perservate on single topic or detail, may be rambling and difficult to follow, or may have pressured speech that is rapid
Delirium & Mood/Affect: Mood here?
Have rapid and unpredictable mood shifts. Wide range of emotional responses like anxiety, fear, irritability, anger, euphoria, and apathy
Delirium & Thought Process/Content: How is it here?
Content in delirium unrelated to siutation and difficult to understand. Disorganized and makes no sense. Make experience delusions
Delirium & Sensorium / Intellectual Proceses: Initial signs of delirium is usually what?
Altered level of consciousness that is seldom stable and usually fluctuates throughout day.
Delirium & Sensorium / Intellectual Proceses: Orientation here?
Oriented to people but not time or place.
Delirium & Sensorium / Intellectual Proceses: Clients cannot focus on what?
Cannot focus, sustain, or shift attention effectivelly and there is impaired recent aand immediate memory.
Delirium & Sensorium / Intellectual Proceses: Examples of reactions to misperceptions they may experience?
May hear door slam and think its gunshot or see nurse reach for IV bag and believe nurse is about to strike them.
Delirium & Sensorium / Intellectual Proceses: What are some common illusions?
Include client believing that IV tubing or an electrical cord is a snake and mistaking the nurse for a family member.
Delirium & Judgement/Insight: How is judgement impaired here?
Cannot perceive potentially harmful siutations or act in their own best interests. May try to repeatdly pull out IV tubing
Delirium & Judgement/Insight: How is insight?
THose with severe delirium may have no insight. Mild delirium may recognize they are confused.
Delirium & Roles/Reltationships: Roles here?
Unlikely to fulfill their roles during the course of delirium
Delirium & Self-Concept: How do they feel?
Delirium has no effect on self-concept, but they often feel frightened or feel threatened
Delirium & Physiological/Self-Care: What changes occucr here?
Experience disturbed sleep-wake cycles that include difficulty falling asleep, daytime sleepiness, nighttime agitation. May also ignore internal body cues
Delirium & Intervention - Promoting Safety: What to know about medicines?
Should be used sparingly because it may worsen confusion and increase rf falls
Delirium & Intervention - Promoting Safety: What does the nurse teach patient?
To request assistance for activites such as getting out of bed.
Delirium & Intervention - Promoting Safety: When would restraints be used?
If the client is agitated or pulling at IV lines or catheters
Delirium & Intervention - Promoting Safety: What do you teach client and family?
Monitor chronic conditions
Visit physician regularly
Include all medications
Avoid alcohol/recreational drugs
Get adequate sleep
Delirium & Intervention - Managing Client’s Confusion: Voice here?
Client speaks calmly and speaks in a clear low voice
Delirium & Intervention - Managing Client’s Confusion: Example of what nurse should say?
I know things are upsetting and confusing right now, but your confusion should clear as you get better
Delirium & Intervention - Managing Client’s Confusion: How to phrase questions?
Use short, simple sentences allowing adequate time for clients to grasp the content or respond to a question
Delirium & Intervention - Promoting Sleep/Nutrition: What does nurse monitor here?
Client’s sleep and elimination patterns and food and fluid intake.
Delirium & Intervention - Promoting Sleep/Nutrition: Overall things to monitor here?
Monitor sleep/elimination
Monitor food and fluid intake
Provide periodic assitance to bathroom
Discourage daytime napping to help sleep
Encourage some exercise during day
Delirium & Intervention - Controlling environment to reduce sensory: Overall things to monitor here?
Keep environment noise to minimum
Monitor clients response to visitors
Validate clients anxiety and fears
Delirium & Intervention - Managing client confusions: Overall things to do here?
Speak in calm manner
Allow adequate time for client to comprehend
Allow client to make decisions
Provide orienting verbal cues
Use supportive touch
Delirium & Intervention - Promoting client’s safety: Overall things to do here?
Teach the clients to request assistance
Provide close supervision to ensure safety during these activities
Promptly respond to clients call for assistance
Delirium & Evaluation: Successul tx of underlying causes of delirium causes what to happen to patient?
Return to their previous levels of functioning.
Delirium & Evaluation: Family must understand what health care practices are necessary to avoid recurrence including what?
Monitoring a chronic health condition, using meds carefully, or abstaining from alcohol or other drugs
Dementia: What is this?
Refers to disease process marked by progressive cognitive impairment with no change in level of consciousness
Dementia: Involves multiple cognitive impairments including what?
Memory impairment, with further cognitive disturbances my be seen
Dementia: What cognitive disturbances may be caused?
Aphasia
Apraxia
Agnosia
Disturbance in Executive Functioning
Dementia: What is Aphasia?
Deterioration of language function
Dementia: What is Apraxia?
Which is impaired ability to execute motor function despite intact motor abilities
Dementia: What is Agnosia?
Inability to recognize or name objects despite intact sensory abilities
Dementia: What are some disturbance sin executive functioning?
Ability to think abstractly and to plan, initiate, sequence, monitor, and stop complex behavior
Dementia: What does mild NCD refer to?
A mild cognitive decline, and a modest impairment of performance that doesn’t prevent independent living but may require some accommodation or assitance
Dementia: What does major NCD refer to?
A significant cognitive decline and a substantial impairment in performance that interferes with ADLs
Dementia: What happens if dementia and delirium coexist?
Symptoms of dementia remain even when the delirium has cleared.
Dementia: Is deliriumm or dementia onset faster?
DElirium
Dementia: LOC here?
Not affected
Dementia: Speech here?
Normal in early stage, progressive aphasia in later stage
Dementia: Thought process here?
Impaired thinking, eventual loss of thinking abilitites
Dementia: Perception here?
Often absent, but can have paranoia, hallucinations, illusions
Dementia: Mood here?
Depressed and angry in early stage
Labile mood, restless pacing, angry outbursts in later stages
Dementia: Prominent early sign of this>?
Memory impairment . Have difficulty learning new material and forget previously learned material