Clinical Practice Involving the Dementia Patients Essay
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Added on 2020-04-21
Clinical Practice Involving the Dementia Patients Essay
Added on 2020-04-21
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Running head: CLINICAL PRACTICE INVOLVING THE DEMENTIA PATIENTSClinical Practice Involving the Dementia PatientsName of the studentName of the University Author note
1CLINICAL PRACTICE INVOLVING THE DEMENTIA PATIENTSThe purpose of this essay is to identify a long-term condition (dementia), anddiscuss how it affects individuals and their experiences, in order to develop anunderstanding. This essay will cover the key issues of a long term condition (dementia)and how it influence the well-being of individual using the dementia allianceinternational, NICE guidelines and books that will be mention in the essay along theline. Also, I will be discussing about implication for practice and the role of healthcareprofessionals working in partnership with patients, carers and their families. I will thentalk about what I have learnt and how this essay will influence my future practice.The reason for selecting this topic is based upon statistics from United Kingdom,which shows that there are currently, 850,000 people who have dementia and these numbersare likely to rise over one million by the year 2025 (Alzheimer's Society 2018). One in sixpeople over the age of 80 years develop dementia. The Fifth edition of Diagnostic andStatistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) has reclassified dementia as aneurocognitive disorder, which has a varying degree of severity (Brooker et al. 2014).Chertkow et al. (2013) defined dementia as a clinical syndrome where the decline incognition occurs, sufficiently severe to interfere with occupational or social functioning.Therefore, to improve their living conditions and provide better care as a Nursing Assistant(NA), it is important to study the experiences of individuals living with the condition. Thefollowing essay focuses on dementia patients and their daily life experiences. First we willdiscuss the onset of dementia. Also, knowledge of this condition and associated experiencewill allow better diagnosis and assistance for dementia patients. Additionally, knowledgeprovided to patients can allow them to be better equipped to understand their condition betterand manage them more efficiently. Both of which can improve outcomes of the care and
2CLINICAL PRACTICE INVOLVING THE DEMENTIA PATIENTStreatment, and hence emphasizes the necessity for developing knowledge about this diseaseas well as long term conditions by both the nurse and patient.The onset of dementia involves the damage of the nerve cells within the brain, whichcan happen in different areas. Dementia affects the cognitive ability of every other persondifferently as it depends on the area of affecting the brain (Laforce 2013). Dementia also canbe grouped by its cause as there are some dementias, which are caused by the reaction ofvitamin deficiencies, and this can be improved if treated. In addition, there are progressivedementias as Alzheimer’s, vascular dementia, Frontotemporal dementia, Lewy Bodydementia and mixed dementia (Sadowsky and Galvin 2012). The experiences of dementiapatients and their challenges are discussed in the subsequent section.Dementia patients experience a number of key challenges while receivingcare from healthcare professionals. The personal details in the story will be rephrased formaintaining the confidentiality of patients. Considering the issues experienced by Maggie, a72-year-old dementia patient, the major concern had been the ability to retain any memory ofher previous life or existence (dementiaallianceinternational.org 2018). The incapability ofretaining any memory often incorporates agitations and helplessness in the patients andMaggie had been a victim of all these challenges. Patients with dementia experience moodswings, delusion, aggressiveness, guilt and low self-esteem (Rohrer, Rossor and Warren2012). Dementia patients with depression experience trouble with decisions or memory,preoccupation with death and feeling of clinginess. This interferes with their ADLs andworsens their mental wellbeing. Physical wellbeing is also affected as depression is riskfactors for heart attack, weight fluctuations and weakened immune system. Such long termcondition can also become a financial burden due to cost of care as well as the effect onemployability or sustenance of employment (Alzheimer-europe.org 2018; Sakata and
3CLINICAL PRACTICE INVOLVING THE DEMENTIA PATIENTSOkumura 2017). This brings us to reflect upon our understanding of the implication of suchexperiences.Reflecting on the experience of another patient, Mr. Schmidt, an 82-year-olddementia patient was completely dependent on the healthcare provider. He suffered fromextreme speech difficulty, which restricted him from being able to express his particularneeds and preferences. The inability to express his preferences and grievances led to extremefrustration in the patient, which eventually led to depression, helplessness and non-cooperation with the healthcare professionals. Along with agitation, depression, speechdifficulty and memory loss, patients with dementia experience paranoia and aggression.Madison, a 70-year-old woman had been living with vascular dementia for last five years;and along the course, she had developed a fatal inclination towards dependability andtemperament. The extreme dependability of the patient on the care provider indicates theabsolute lack of independence and empowerment that eventually led to paranoia and extremeaggression in the patient.It has to be understood that dependability and helplessness affectsthe mental health of a patient profoundly and hence the onset of paranoia and aggressionis inevitable (dementiaallianceinternational.org 2018). Although there is a need for care,critical requirements of the dementia patients should also be taken into consideration so thatthese challenges can be avoided or managed accordingly. Speech difficulty is one of theearliest issues, which can be seen in the dementia patients. They can often forget a word or anentire conversation. As dementia progress, the patients can forget the common phrases andwords frequently and it is possible that the small set of language which they could rememberat one time, can be lost to them, as they no longer could remember them. In later stages ofdementia, the patients communication level is impaired and at one point of time, the patientmight lose his or her speech completely (Warren, Rohrer and Rossor 2013). Due to speech
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