LIFE STAGE CONSIDERATION LIFE

Running head: LIFE STAGE CONSIDERATION
LIFE STAGE CONSIDERATION
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

LIFE STAGE CONSIDERATION1
Introduction:
Delirium is a mental illness which is commonly observed in the case of older patient
(Trachsel et al., 2016). This assignment primarily focusses on the case study of max, who was
suffering from delirium. This study involves the types of delirium and the assessment tools
which helps in the identification of the mental illness. The signs and symptoms of delirium
which can be used by the nurse to ensure delirium in Max is also discussed in detail. The
different nursing strategies and impact of the illness has been also incorporated. Max, in the case,
has been suffering from pain which possesses negative effect on his mental and physical health.
The impact of pain and strategies to manage such pains are included in the discussion. Along
with that the essay also briefly discusses the strength-based assessment which helps in
maintaining the other health complications of the patient.
Impacts of delirium:
Delirium is considered a severe mental illness which disrupts the normal function of the
brain and can lead to emotional disruption and mental confusion. Delirium is often observed in
case after surgery or any dementia (Noblett et al., 2016). In this case, Max has recently recovered
from his respiratory illness which can be considered as the risk factor of delirium.
There are three primary types of delirium which are, delirium tremens, hyperactive
delirium and hypoactive delirium. Delirium tremens is mainly observed in the case of patient
who is either trying to stop drinking alcohol or is consuming alcohol from longer periods of
time. In the case of hyperactive delirium, the patient becomes highly alert and uncooperative and

LIFE STAGE CONSIDERATION2
in the case of hypoactive delirium, the patient disorganised and inattentive and as a result not
able to complete their task attentively (Lahariya et al., 2016).
For the appropriate and safe treatment of the patient, it is crucial to diagnose the disease
at an early stage. There are several methods such as confusion assessment method, neurological
and physical assessment method and another test (blood test, urine test. In the confusion
assessment method, behavior of the patient is observed (Smith et al., 2016). The daily regime of
the patient is kept to assess the attention awareness and thinking perspective of the patient
through conversation. It provides information regarding the mental state, perception and memory
of the patient. In the physical exams, signs and symptoms of the different health problems are
assessed, and in the neurological assessment method, vision, coordination, balances and reflexes
were evaluated. Apart from these other tests such as blood test or the urine tests are also
performed.
The symptoms of delirium include, disturbed sleeping habits, lethargy, restlessness,
hallucinations, anxiety, depression, personality changes, poor memory, difficulty in writing,
speaking and reading and other symptoms (Marcantonio, 2017). The people suffering from
delirium are not able to stay focused for a longer period time. They also provide little or no
response to the environment. The symptoms of delirium which can be used by the community
nurse to identify delirium in the case of max involve his sleeping difficulty, agitated behavior
and hallucination, as he thinks that the nurse and the other health care staff wants to kill him.
The primary goal of the nursing strategies in case of delirium is to address the underlying
cause of the disease and providing intervention accordingly. In the case of delirium, the patient is
provided with supportive care by the nurses. Supportive care helps in the prevention of any