developmental stage for alzheimers res.

[tiffanyleigh0212]

I originally posted this in the student forum, but thought maybe I could get a bigger response in this forum.

I'm working on my physical assessment for a resident I had. Res. is 87 y/o and has Alzheimers and dementia. I'm having a hard time figuring out which developmental stage (according to Erikson) she would be in seeing as she couldn't really tell me about her life or experiences she was currently going through. She didn't talk much unless I asked her questions, and when I asked her questions, you could easily tell she wasn't aware of what she was saying. Her husband does live with her at the nursing home and they have a room together (he has skin cancer and in a wheel chair) and you can tell how much he cares for her. She did have flowers a family member had brought and some pictures, she also had a stuffed animal dog that she believed was her real dog. Her chart listed she did have a daughter and step daughter who visited at least once a week. How do you assess this on a pt. such as mine and really know what developmental stage they're in? Any help would be great!

[geriNurse1]

Talk to her about her past, school, job, sisters, brothers, parents. Try to find out at what age she is at in her mind. Maybe that will help. If her family has any pictures of her when she was a teenager or child, that might help getting her talking. Does she recognize her daughters, as her daughters? Maybe her wedding pictures would help. Remember Alzheimers is child development in reverse! Short term memory is gone, but long term is still hanging on. Good Luck!

[tiffanyleigh0212]

Wow, that sounds like great advice, unfortunately I'm a student and we only get our residents one time and then were done with them, I've talked to the teachers how I hate we don't get resident information till AFTER we care for them, I still have trouble understanding some things and wish I had the time to research before I assessed the resident to know different things specifically to look for. She did say starting next semester we will get to get patient information the night before clinical. But I am at the nursing home a few more weeks so I will definitely use your tips next time I have a resident with alzheimer's. Thanks so much again!