Nursing Care Plan for an Aged Individual with Dementia, Depression, Anxiety and Incontinence

Running head: NURSING CARE PLAN
NURSING CARE PLAN
Name of the Student
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Author Notes

1NURSING CARE PLAN
Introduction
This essay is the case study of an aged individual residing in a clinical placement
facility. Before starting to gather information about the patient, permissions were
obtained from the clinical placement facility. The person or the aged individual is a 70-
year-old man and suffers from dementia, depression, anxiety and incontinence. The
patient had a history of alcohol abuse, which may be responsible for his symptoms
associated with dementia. This is termed as alcohol related brain damage (Ridley,
Draper & Withall, 2013). This is common among older adults. Apart from alcohol, he
also had a history of drug abuse and this may be responsible for the symptoms
associated with anxiety and depression. Long-term use of cocaine and heroin have
been reported to lead to anxiety and depression among individuals (Naifeh, Tull &
Gratz, 2012). Incontinence is the inability to control urine discharge and leads to
involuntary release of urine. Incontinence had a significant impact on the life of the
individual as it affected both his mental and physical health.
This in turn further aggravated his symptoms of anxiety and depression (Felde,
Ebbesen & Hunskaar, 2017). These medical conditions have affected his way of life.
Anxiety, depression and dementia are usually associated with cognitive impairment
(Balash et al., 2013). He is unable to carry out his daily activities like walking,
communicating, getting dressed. He has often succumbed to falls and was subjected to
injuries as a result of his cognitive impairment. This has also affected his memory as he
frequently forgets that he has already eaten and quarrels with the nursing staff that he
was not given food. He also faces difficulties in understanding what others are saying
and often hallucinates. He has lost his confidence and does not come out of his room
and talk to others. He feels embarrassed due to his incontinence issues. Thus, his
social life is also affected further worsening his mental disorders.
The theory of ageing appropriate for this patient is the the Free Radicals Theory.
According to this theory, aging is caused because of assaults caused on the body either
internally or externally. These assaults damage the cells and subsequently the organs,
which results in improper or loss of vital function of the body (Vina et al., 2013).