NURSING 2LA2 Lecture Notes - Language Disorder, Attention, Morphine
3 Jun 2014
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Document Summary
Common, life threatening, potentially preventable clinical syndrome caused by variety of physical causes. Defined as acute decline in the cognitive processes of the brain namely attention and cognition. Strongly associated with hospitalized patients who are 65 year of age or older. Periods of inattention, disorganized thinking, changes in level of consciousness, disorientation, delusion, perceptual disturbances as well as impaired memory speech, sleep and psychomotor. Physicians use terms such as confusional state or encephalopathy . Marker for severe illness and mortality (1 year mortality rate 35-40%) Initiates a cascade of pathophysiological changes that lead to: loss of independence, increase risk of morbidity and death, increase health care costs. Yet, only 40% of clinicans screen for delirium as patient as risk. Clinical features: acute onset: occurs abruptly, usually over a period of hours to days, fluctuation course: symptoms tend to come and go or increase in severity over a.
