Dementia as an extremely debilitating disease Essay

Dementia as an extremely debilitating disease - Essay Example This research will also show the importance of the nurse as an advocate for those who have mental disabilities such as dementia. Of course there will be thorough discussion on what the best interventions are in the acute care setting to try and maintain a decent quality of life for the patient as well. The conclusion shows that dementia is a severely crippling disease, both physically and mentally, and therefore often the best nursing approach is a holistic one with an interpersonal methodology intertwined. Although there is no cure for dementia, appropriate management of care by the nurse can make a great deal of difference in these patients' lives. Dementia is actually the gradual destruction of several areas of the brain that affect the cognitive processes. This of course causes maladaptive behavior changes and the nurse sometimes has a more difficult time managing the patient care when these symptomatic occurrences begin to take place (Antonangeli 1995, pg. 167). Typically dementia is viewed as a collection of negative symptoms, but positive symptoms are present as well. During the early stages of the illness when the patient is only mildly impaired it is very common for individuals to avoid active participation in life. Patients tend to withdraw from social engagements, lack initiative, and overall behave in an indifferent and apathetic manner. It is the nurse's role to attempt to manage their care in a way that will keep them from adapting to this type of behavior. In the acute care setting a certain quality of life is attempted to be maintained for as long as possible. This might be through medications prescribed, psychol ogical counseling services, or other methods of intervention that are geared towards each individual patients needs because not every dementia patient requires the same form of treatment in the initial stages nor as the disease progresses (Aylward et al 1997, pg. 155). As the illness progresses and the cognitive deficits increase patients may become more anxious and agitated. Patients with preexisting psychological problems are prone to experiencing hallucinations and delusions. In particular these patients exhibit paranoid delusions, for instance accusing the elderly spouse of being unfaithful. Misperceptions, such as the inability to distinguish real people from television images, are also common at this stage (Bauer & Shea 1986, pg. 144). Aggression, in particular verbal hostility tends to increase as accurate perception declines. It is perceived that these agitated and aggressive behaviors may represent issues where the patient is making an adaptive effort to try and communicate their needs. They are also attempting to express why they are behaving the way they are but they simply become frustrated and