A frail,elderly patient admitted with dehydration to a medical-surgical unit is exhibiting confusion,distractibility,memory loss,and irritability.What is most important for the nurse to do?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Depression is often masked in older adults and expressed as physical and personality changes.Memory loss and confusion are also common symptoms of depression in older adults.Any one of the symptoms might occur as a result of physical illness,but the combination should prompt the nurse to suspect depression and interview and screen for it before exploring physiological causes for the symptom (as with a urine specimen).Placing the patient with another patient would be indicated for social isolation,which can be associated with depression; however,the nurse needs to screen for depression before looking for causes.

A Frail,elderly Patient Admitted with Dehydration to a Medical-Surgical Unit