Elderly post-op delirium/disorientation

[kayvary]

Hello. I need to pick a topic on post-op complications. A lot of people are already doing pneumonia, incision infections. I recently encountered an elderly patient whose baseline is a&o x 3 who, 2 days after surgery pt started becoming disoriented on and off. I was told this was a big problem with elderly patients. I wanted to look into this more but haven't found much on the topic. So I am trying to see if it isn't really that common. I am wondering how many others have encountered something like this?If you have can you describe the behavior (how often confused, which post-op day did it start, how old was the pt, did they get over the delirium, etc.). Also if you know of a good recent article on the topic that would be very helpful.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Welcome to AN! The largest online nursing community!

You can also pick post operative blood clots (DVT) and the core measures (standard orders) to prevent them.

Confusion from anesthesia in the elderly and I found Anaesthesia and cognitive disturbance in the elderly

I hope this helps:)

[ckh23, BSN, RN]

Hello. I need to pick a topic on post-op complications. A lot of people are already doing pneumonia incision infections. I recently encountered an elderly patient whose baseline is a&o x 3 who, 2 days after surgery pt started becoming disoriented on and off. I was told this was a big problem with elderly patients. I wanted to look into this more but haven't found much on the topic. So I am trying to see if it isn't really that common. I am wondering how many others have encountered something like this?If you have can you describe the behavior (how often confused, which post-op day did it start, how old was the pt, did they get over the delirium, etc.). Also if you know of a good recent article on the topic that would be very helpful.[/quote']

Try searching "post operative cognitive dysfunction".

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Just looking in the nursing literature for "delirium" will get you a TON of articles. Ask your school librarian for assistance in accessing CINAHL, the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature. The school probably has a contract with them and you can use it for free. You could also ask your community librarian-- they love to help students with stuff like this.

[jimithing112]

Also remember that delirium is temporary and shouldn't be confused with general confusion that can happen from pain meds or anesthesia. Think infection...