Thursday 28 January 2010

Acute care

Dr Kirsten posed a sensible question, here, asking how could a patient with delirium be managed better.

I'll post on that, later.

It did get me wondering though, why the question wasn't reversed. Why wasn't an old age psychiatrist asking Dr Kirsten for the advice. No, really, think about it. Our psychiatric hospital has less than a dozen patients with dementia on the wards. Our neighbouring acute hospital Trust has, across it's medical and surgical wards, a lot more. Statistically, I'd expect them to have 334 patients who are older adults with dementia in their beds, today.

334.

That's a lot.

That's common place, that's who they have to look after, each and every day, on their wards. We have less than a dozen on ours.

In-patient care of older adults with dementia; who should the experts be?

1 comment:

Nurse Anne said...

A person with delirium needs someone sat with them at all times.

That is how you manage it...as well as treating the cause of it if it is truly delirium caused by sepsis or whatever.

Dementia? They need someone to sit with them and monitor them at all times.

No one wants to pay for it. No one wants to do it. The nurse taking care of such a patient usually has 20 others so her hands are tied.