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Jt's Physical Assessment

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Specific Case This semester I cared for resident JT. JT is diagnosed with dementia, which is a form of chronic confusion. Evidence from JT’s physical assessment that supports this diagnosis is her mental status. In her patient chart, it states that JT is alert with confusion. During my physical assessment, JT was alert and oriented times two. JT could identify herself and was aware of her surroundings. However, she was not oriented to time; she believed the year was 1931. Relating to the concept of chronic confusion, assessing arousal, orientation and attention to environment is a way to measure chronic confusion (Wilkerson, 2017 p. 168). Other medical concerns include her vision impairment. JT is blind in her left eye she also has glaucoma …show more content…

Evidence to support this, includes findings during her physical assessment. JT was able to communicate, hold a conversation and socially interact with peers and medical staff. According to Wilkerson (2017), objective characteristic of chronic confusion includes impaired social functioning (p. 167). In addition, she had difficulty remembering certain information. As an example she could not remember her previous occupation; however, she could remember previous accidents and surgeries. According to Wilkerson (2017), impaired memory is a subjective characteristics of chronic confusion (p. 167). Another unique aspect is JT is not prescribed medication for her dementia. In some circumstances, pharmacological interventions are utilized (Harrison-denning, …show more content…

The clinical findings that support this type of intervention is JT not being orientated to time. Since dementia is a progressive disease, JT’s orientation to reality is expected to change. However, implementing this form of therapy could enable her to maintain her cognitive ability longer as the disease slowly progresses. During my time caring for JT, I was conscious about addressing her by her preferred name and telling her I was taking her down to breakfast to orientate her to time. On one occasion I even pulled up her blinds so she could look outside and know what the weather was like and the time of day it was. To orientate JT to time, a calendar should be introduced as well as having a conversation about current

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