Support and Caring for a Person with Dementia Essay

In order to determine the nutritional care of Mrs Gale the nursing process will be used. Nursing was described as a problem-solving process with 4 stages termed; assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation by Yura & Walsh (1967) (cited Aggleton & Chalmers 2000). This principle is still used in clinical practice today and is considered to be best practice (Bloomfield & Pegram 2012).

The development of a dementia environment approach will highly impact the improvement of life of people living with dementia involving their family and carers, evidently reducing the stigma linked with the condition. The need to physically and socially design an approach for the progressing ageing population, and better comprehension of the issues affecting the dementia suffering elderly. Life Community Village is a specially designed and self-contained village for dementia-affected people imitating a normal daily life. It visions a change of approach in dementia care in the future and cope with the growing number of issues of dementia in the ageing population. Its mission on the other hand, is focused on delivering a holistic and person-centric approach by leading and optimizing a normal life for dementia-suffering elderly. Also providing a dementia-friendly community and creating a society that the dementia-suffering person can engage in. In the current increasing population of older Australians, there is over a million that has received a form of aged care support and services every year. This is provided through the collaboration of funding and administration of the local, state and federal government. Meanwhile, according to Australian statistics, there are more than 353,800 who are living with dementia. In less than five years, it is projected to rise to 400,000; and due to the fact that there is currently no cure for the condition, and with the

Dementia is a loss of brain function. If affects memory, thinking, language, judgement and behaviour. Dementia is progressive, so the symptoms will gradually get worse. In a later stage of dementia people will find it hard to carry out daily tasks and will come dependant on other people.

I am currently studying HNC Health Care and as part of my course I have to complete a graded unit, this will entail three stages; Planning, development and evaluation. This will be carried out while on placement within a hospital setting, within the planning stage I have to choose a patient and assist them with a nursing activity. I have chosen to follow Roper Logan and Tierney twelve activities of daily living the reason for this is that I find it to be the nursing model that is most effective as each activity has its own importance to the survival of life; also it follows the objectives of my graded unit. I have chosen the AL of eating and drinking as the patient I have chosen has severe Rheumatoid arthritis and has lost the use of her

Nurses and family members need to speak slowly and clearly, in a low pitched voice, maintaining an open friendly communication manner and also using eye contact and touch. Speaking slowly is very important as it allows patients who can’t have a conversation to understand you better, patients with dementia take longer to process information and sentences, so speaking style such as emotion, sound volume and what you say can be the difference between a patient with dementia understanding you and not. It slowly allows the patients enough time to take the words in and process the sentence. Speaking clearly and in a calm voice will help reassure the patient and help them cope with following your words. Speaking clearly and calmly will help relax the patient. A nurse should avoid speaking sharply or raising their voice, as this may distress the person even if they can't follow the sense of your words. Low pitched voice is used to calm the patient and not bring about any distress or frighten them. Low pitched tone can be used to sooth the patient if in any distress. Gaining eye contact with a patient is very important, if they are sitting down kneeling down at there level can be of benefit so they no you are there. This allows the nurse to get their attention and help them focus on the conversation without scaring them. Maintaining eye contact while speaking with the patient can also be of benefit. Love and affection can

Dementia Syndrome is a condition caused by a set of symptoms. These symptoms can include but are not limited to: - memory loss, mood changes, communication difficulties, difficulty understanding or thinking.

c) Age-related cognitive impairment (or mild cognitive impairment MCI) – is when an elderly person’s memory starts to wane and they have problems recalling their short term memories, they have difficulty learning new things, their thinking process starts to become reduced and have difficulty concentrating. It is thought that MCI can develop due to alcohol abuse and cognitive decline (poor diet, chronic inflammation, vascular disease and

I was interested in learning about PEG feeding from the very first time I saw it in the care home. I was eager to learn the skill. By observing my colleague doing it and by attending training I learned the procedure clearly and gained necessary confidence to perform it. I obtained consent and maintained privacy before carrying out the procedure. I was nervous whilst doing it for the first time but with the support of my colleagues I overcame the stress and mastered the skill.

This is why treating the person with dignity and respect is vital in end of life care in case of an individual with dementia.

There is a need to identify the level and type of support an individual requires when eating and drinking. Any support while eating or drinking is to be provided respecting the service user’s human dignity, while the carer is exhibiting warmth and a calm attitude. The care plan informs whether the service user is able to feed him/herself, or needs assistance. Many service users will feed themselves when starting their meal, but will get tired and will then require assistance. The hands of service users with Parkinson’s may have to be gently directed so that they manage eating independently. The carer may need to cut the food for the service user. Service users with chewing difficulties, or swallowing precautions, or a history of choking need to be supervised while eating. Of course, these service users will also get a soft diet. Service users living with dementia may reject food which to them resembles to gruesome things (e.g., they may think meat bits in a dark sauce are cocroaches), therefore person-centered support is important. Service users with learning disabilities may find it hard to estimate distances, so the carer will make sure plates and glasses are well within their reach.

Describe how and when to seek additional guidance about and individual’s choice of food and drink.

This piece of work will be based on the pre-assessment process that patients go through on arrival to an endoscopy unit in which I was placed in during my second year studying Adult diploma Nursing. I will explore one patient’s holistic needs, identifying the priorities of care that the patient requires; I will then highlight a particular priority and give a rational behind this. During an admission I completed under the supervision of my mentor I was pre-assessing a 37 year old lady who had arrived to the unit for an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. During the pre-assessment it was important that a holistic assessment is performed as every patient is an individual with unique care needs as the patient outline in this piece of work has

Rationale: Make meal times happy and pleasant. Encourage the patient to eat their whole meal. If they are not eating, offer them another choice of food. Report and record all food and fluid intake. (Nursing Assistant Education, 2014

The next time he decided that to administer insulin. Clinical assessors required to make professional judgements in interpreting what the minimum acceptable levels of competence are in respect to professional standards. These judgements are frequently made with in the role relationship of that of a mentor cum assessor to a student (Stuart 2005). As it is a skill involved, I found it was difficult for him to memorise all the step and rationales. I explained about my experience when I was a student nurse and concept of learning through practice. For students learning during clinical practice is a complex activity. The student has to contend and learn to deal with complex, unstable and uncertain worlds of practice (Schon 1987). With on going support I facilitated learning environment to practice the procedure under supervision

Critical analysis of this experience has pointed to the fact that I have inadequacies in my skills, to identify covert and overt clues provided by Mr. Comer to his needs. I had focussed too much on the presenting task to feed him, with my mind occupied on his safety due to the nature of his swallowing problems. I had not considered his other needs like his wishes or desires and I had not gathered enough personal information about him beforehand to know this (Davis & Fallowfield 1991).