Neurocognitive Disorders (Nursing)

00:02 So let's think about some of the neurocognitive disorders.

00:06 Delirium.

00:07 With delirium, there is an acute change in the mental functioning of an individual.

00:13 It is something that we see and it is a medical emergency.

00:18 It's really important to remember, if you think it's delirium, you want to start thinking medical emergency.

00:26 You also have dementia.

00:28 Dementia is a slow onset, when we start seeing changes in mental functions that are very slow onset.

00:37 So maybe there is some word retrieval loss, maybe then there is some forgetting where the car is parked.

00:45 And as it progresses, it becomes more impacting on a person's life.

00:52 And then you have amnestic disorders.

00:55 So and then amnestic disorder is going to take away a person's memory, the capacity to remember your past, and perhaps even something as easy as early afternoon to late afternoon.

01:11 If you have an amnestic disorder, it's really difficult to retrieve these kind of information.

01:19 So let's go back to Jai for a moment.

01:22 What did the partner tell us that might give us some clues about what Jai is experiencing? Remember, the partner said, "Please help us.

01:33 Jai has been acting very differently tonight." He doesn't seem to remember my name.

01:39 He's talking crazy.

01:41 And he suddenly thinks that there are bugs in his bed." What are we seeing there? Well, we're seeing a rapid onset.

01:50 The partner says, "Jai was okay in the morning.

01:54 And by the evening was not okay." That Jai may be having some hallucinations, thinking that there are bugs in the bed, not sure if he sees them, or if he just thinks that.

02:08 Also, there's a speech pattern disorganization.

02:14 So we have to start thinking what might be going on with Jai right now? When she says, "Please help us." We have to start thinking also about the family, the impact of neurocognitive diseases on a family.

02:32 And we want to start believing that right now, we need to do something because if it is getting worse now, it might be delirium.

02:43 It might be something that we need to act immediately upon.

02:47 But at the same time, Jai's partner is saying, "Well, maybe it was over the past few months, and I didn't notice." One of the things we can do as nurses is we're not only connecting with our patient, we're connecting with their families.

03:02 And it is not for us to put the burden of you should have seen this coming on a family member.

03:10 Instead, we have to deal with the present moment.

03:14 Please remember SAFE.

03:16 We are going to provide a safe environment.

03:20 We are also going to assess the situation.

03:24 We're going to focus on the patient, and in this case, the patient and the partner.

03:30 And we're going to evaluate, evaluate and take objective information so we can evaluate where the patient is at now.

03:39 And where we can help move the patient to.