My knowledge of delirium is that it is an acute onset of confusion. Delirium is generally short term and can be reversed, unlike dementia. There are many things that can cause a patient to experience delirium and many of these factors can happen when the patient is staying in the hospital. Some examples would be certain medications that the patient may be on, decreased oxygen level, and simply just being in an unfamiliar place. It is important to prevent delirium so that the patient is in their best state while they are in the hospital. It is important to make the patient feel like they are at home and accommodate anything you can to help them feel comfortable during their stay. I have not cared for a patient with delirium at this moment. I expect to see the patient in a confused state, like dementia. I am going to use clinical reasoning and good judgement to help the patient determine things like what day it is, if they have eaten their last meal, and how we can help them get out of the delirium state.

My learning goals for this volunteer experience are 1.) to observe and learn from other nurses in the field and 2.) to use client centered care and critical thinking in the practice setting. There is not anything about this experience that makes me nervous. I feel ready for whatever this volunteer experience is going to throw at me. I have mixed feelings about this experience because it is going to be very different from our other clinicals where we essentially are the nurse for the patients whereas this volunteer experience we can’t touch the patients, help them to the bathroom, walk with them. It’s difficult to be in the position where we kind of have to take a step back on the skills that we already know. I am not aware of any other hospital or community supports areas for the aging population.