Calming the Patient with Cognitive Impairment
Calming the Patient with Cognitive Impairment is organized by Nurse.com - OnCourse Learning Corporation.
Course Originally Released on: 05/18/2022
Date of Most Recent Review: 05/18/2022
Course Termination/ Update Date: 12/31/2025
Description:
Caring for a patient who is cognitively impaired can be extremely difficult for not only healthcare professionals but also families and caregivers. As the largest birth cohort in U.S. history, the baby boomer population, ages, the number of older adults will continue to grow. Although not a normal part of aging, dementia affects a large portion of the older adult population. One in every three older adults die with some type of dementia (Alzheimer’s Association, 2022). As a nurse, you may encounter an increasing number of patients with cognitive impairment. While medical intervention may be necessary at times, you should understand the types of alternative therapies available that can not only improve cognition but a patient’s overall quality of life, too.
Goal and Learning Outcomes:
The goal of this course is to enrich the knowledge of nursing professionals in the acute care setting about the use of music, touch, exercise, and animals to calm cognitively impaired patients.
After taking this course, you should be able to:
• Describe the different types of behavioral and psychological symptoms that patients with dementia exhibit.
• Identify the ways music, touch, exercise, and animal presence benefit patients with cognitive impairment.