Dementia Case Studies

Today the life expectancy of older adults has increased due to the advancement of health care. Nurses must be educated in order to understand and treat the complicated physical, emotional, physiological, and mental health needs of older adults. Illness in older adults can be complex due to the multiple medical problems and physical changes of aging. As a nurse, it is imperative to have an adequate knowledge of atypical symptoms when taking care of elderly patients. Health care staff can easily misdiagnose an elderly patient. Atypical symptoms are defined as a presentation of illness is defined as vague, altered, non-presentation of illness (Gray-Miceli, 2005). By focusing on the management of acute and chronic medical conditions of

N who is a 74 year old female, I can easily say that the preliminary problem list of Ms. N are acute confusion, generalized weakness, frequent fall, and urinary incontinence. Ms. N is showing multiple atypical symptoms which can be caused by multiple reasons. Due to the patient’s age, it is easy to conclude that her presenting symptoms are the result of Dementia. Dementia is due to the loss of brain function. Ms. N mental status just recently declined for the past 3 weeks. In elderly patients, it is imperative to find the underlying cause of confusion, because number of factors can cause it. Confusion are caused by a lot of illnesses such as fluid and electrolyte imbalance, heart disease, infection, medications, diabetes, stroke, and lack of oxygen. Comprehensive head to toe assessment, blood work, and diagnostic testing are necessary to properly evaluate the cause of the symptoms. Since Ms. N had multiple falls, it is important to rule out concussion because it can alter the patient’s mental status and

N are acute confusion, generalized weakness, frequent fall, and urinary incontinence. The atypical symptoms that were mentioned can be caused by other diseases or illness. Comprehensive assessment and further workup are necessary to treat the underlying cause. It is easy to say that Ms. N is suffering from dementia because of her old age. Due to the insufficient data included in the case scenario, it is difficult to pinpoint the real cause of her presenting problems. I am suspecting that Ms. N might possibly be suffering from UTI or Myocardial infarction. Necessary lab work up such as cardiac enzymes, cbc , urinalysis and culture, and diagnostic testing are important to have a full picture and understanding of the patient’s