Should Dementia Patients Decide Healthcare? Nursing Assignment

This nursing assignment explores the complex issue of whether individuals with dementia should be involved in their healthcare decision-making processes. The essay is divided into two parts: the advantages and disadvantages of involving dementia patients in healthcare decisions. The advantages discussed include respecting the patient's values and wishes, aiding in future planning, and potentially allowing for adjustments to changing abilities. The disadvantages highlighted focus on the potential for confusion, the challenges of making consistent decisions due to cognitive impairment, and the associated costs. The essay emphasizes the importance of professional caregivers and the potential waste of time and resources when patients' decisions may change. The essay uses references like Fetherstonhaugh et al., (2016), Holroyd-Leduc et al., (2016), Lord, Livingston & Cooper, (2015), Miller, Whitlatch & Lyons, (2016), Poole et al., (2018), Sinclair, Bucks & Blake, (2018) to support its arguments.

Running head: NURSING ASSIGNMENT 1
Bachelor of nursing assignment
Student’s name
Institutional affiliation

NURSING ASSIGNMENT 2
Should a person living with dementia be involved in decision making regarding their healthcare?
Part 2-advantages
Dementia is a medical condition that results in loss of cognitive functions such as
thinking, remembering, and reasoning. People with dementia have a major role to play in their
lives when it comes to making decisions regarding their healthcare (Holroyd-Leduc et al., 2016).
The major advantages of involving a person with dementia be involved in decision making
regarding their healthcare include; it helps in respecting a person values and wishes. Persons
with dementia have a difficult time with their cognitive function. However, allowing them to
make decisions will help in respecting their wishes (Lord, Livingston & Cooper, 2015). This
may be crucial in helping the patient to have control over their life still.
Secondly, involving a person living with dementia in decision making helps in planning
for the future. By discussing personal values and their health conditions, it will be easier for the
patient to plan for future activities. With this, they will be able to determine the type of health
care services they will need and the medication to be using. While the patient is able to talk, the
patient can complete legal paperwork to ensure that the wishes are recorded.
Additionally, there will be a possibility of the patient adjusting to changing abilities
(Miller, Whitlatch & Lyons, 2016). As an illustration, with the patient decisions, there will be a
variety of options that they can choose. Furthermore, it will be possible for their facial
expressions to be read. As a result, this will make them more involved in the type of their
healthcare. This is also an opportunity for the person with dementia to assess his/her abilities
about the personal life choices regarding their healthcare.

NURSING ASSIGNMENT 3
Part 3-disadvantages
In life, people always want to make their life decision. However, when it comes to people
with dementia, involving them in decisions regarding their healthcare is risky. This is because,
with the loss of their cognitive functions such as thinking remembering and thinking, it may be
challenging making the right decisions (Fetherstonhaugh, Tarzia, Bauer, Nay & Beattie, 2016).
This means that there are numerous disadvantages of involving dementia patients in decision
making regarding their healthcare. A person with dementia will be making decisions without
knowing that they had made a different decision from the previous one. From this, it is clear that
dementia patients are always in a state of confusion.
In most cases, they are always forced to do something such as taking drugs, feeding and
cleaning themselves. This is a tiresome exercise. With this state of mind, allowing them to
participate in decisions regarding their health will be pointless and unproductive (Poole et al.,
2018). Proper care will need the assistance of a professional caregiver such as a nurse who will
be able to understand. From the above discussion, a person with dementia lacks memory of
previous activities. Therefore, in some cases, they won’t be in a position to remember specific
actions after some period.
Consequently, when such patients are involved in decision making regarding their health
care, the costs involved will be high (Sinclair, Bucks & Blake, 2018). As an illustration, there
will be a waste of time and resources. When the patient says a particular decision today, there
will be a different decision subsequently. Without a professional caregiver to make a stand
regarding health care decisions, it will be a waste of time and resources.

NURSING ASSIGNMENT 4
References
Fetherstonhaugh, D., Tarzia, L., Bauer, M., Nay, R., & Beattie, E. (2016). “The Red Dress or the
Blue?” How Do Staff Perceive That They Support Decision Making for People With
Dementia Living in Residential Aged Care Facilities? Journal of Applied Gerontology,
35(2), 209-226.
Holroyd-Leduc, J., Resin, J., Ashley, L., Barwich, D., Elliott, J., Huras, P., ... & Pullman, D.
(2016). Giving voice to older adults living with frailty and their family caregivers:
engagement of older adults living with frailty in research, health care decision making,
and in health policy. Research involvement and engagement, 2(1), 23.
Lord, K., Livingston, G., & Cooper, C. (2015). A systematic review of barriers and facilitators to
and interventions for proxy decision-making by family carers of people with dementia.
International Psychogeriatrics, 27(8), 1301-1312.
Miller, L. M., Whitlatch, C. J., & Lyons, K. S. (2016). Shared decision-making in dementia: a
review of patient and family carer involvement. Dementia, 15(5), 1141-1157.
Poole, M., Bamford, C., McLellan, E., Lee, R. P., Exley, C., Hughes, J. C., ... & Robinson, L.
(2018). End-of-life care: A qualitative study comparing the views of people with
dementia and family carers. Palliative medicine, 32(3), 631-642.
Sinclair, C., Bucks, R. S., & Blake, M. (2018). ‘We’ve always thought of one another’: relational
perspectives on autonomy and decision-making among people with dementia and their
family carers. In Dementia as Social Experience (pp. 130-145). Routledge.