Effects of Delirium Prevention Program - Essay Example

"Effects of Delirium Prevention Program" is a great example of a paper on the disorder. As seen in part 4A, delirium/confusion among the elderly is a serious issue. Early detection and management can still lead to a significant mortality rate among elderly patients. For elderly patients admitted to the hospitals, delirium has extreme outcomes such as prolonged hospital stay, increased risk of developing hospital-acquired infections, and increased risk of developing cognitive impairment (SaGong & Kim, 2018).

Through this paper, I discuss the recommended practices from the four peer-reviewed articles and giving my verdict on the best practice.The first article by Dasguta & Brymer (2015), recommended that all clinicians should carry out a thorough assessment of geriatric syndromes among their elderly patients after undergoing medical procedures. However, the study did not go deep in coming up with the treatment plans for patients with geriatric syndromes. According to Anzuini et al. (2017), monitoring an elderly patient's geriatric syndrome is key in preventing confusion/delirium by treating syndromes that would have resulted in delirium.

It also gives a health practitioner a clue on the appropriate treatment plan that will not trigger delirium. Since the article did not provide a recommendation for the treatment plan, I found it unjustifiable.The third article by Marcantonio (2017) recommended the use of non-pharmacologic interventions, especially in agitation, and that healthcare providers should avoid physical restraints. It also suggests that alongside these non-pharmacologic interventions, patients should be subjected to Antipsychotic agents such as haloperidol.

Though effective, when these drugs are abused, our bodies may develop resistance; thus, they may not be of help when desperately needed (Fick et al. 2017). Therefore, this recommendation is not sufficient.The fourth article by Segal-gidan (2017), emphasizes clinician's keenness while handling patients during operative procedures. This involves using anesthetics that don't have delirium complications/side effects on the patients afterward. This recommendation is not sufficient since not all postoperative confusion results from the anesthetic used during an operation.

The second article by Kukreja et al. (2015) gave a three-level recommendation, identifying patients at risk of delirium, developing a systematic approach to prevent delirium using a multimodal non-pharmacologic prevention method. If delirium persists, then a drug intervention is necessary. In this practice, a healthcare provider is supposed to assess an elderly patient's risk factors to delirium then afterward subject them to a non-pharmacologic intervention. Though the article did not identify the non-pharmacologic interventions, non-pharmacologic interventions may include modifying the wardroom to have elements of the patient's homeroom and playing him/her songs that remind him of his life before getting to the hospital.

Such intervention, according to Kassie et al. (2017), helps a patient to self-fight delirium and confusion psychologically without using medication. This intervention does not require special equipment or treatment, which may result in addiction or allergies (Kassie et al. 2017). Thus safer as compared to other methods that may result in side effects. The clinician only needs the help of a family member in making the patient remember everything about themselves.In conclusion, delirium/confusion has plenty of risk factors, especially for the elderly.

The duration of recovery depends on the intervention used. Pharmacological interventions are the common ones used; however, they may have complications or develop resistance against them. On the other hand, non-pharmacologic interventions are the most natural interventions with no complications or side effects. Though there is limited study on non-pharmacological interventions, many studies have suggested that it can effectively manage delirium.