How would you deal with a patient who looks disoriented and clumsy?

[babaloo, BSN]

First I would assess the patient's orientation level to person, time, location, and situation, and then provide the appropriate reality orientation. Next in a calm voice I would reassure the patient that he/she is safe and I'm here to help. After that I would promote a therapeutic environment by asking the patient if they would like to move to a more calm location on the unit so that the pt themselves can remain calm, so to place with less external stimuli, noise, and people. what else can you do for the disoriented/clumsy patient? Would you put them on 1:1 observation?

[babaloo, BSN]

Also the setting would be an inpatient psychiatric facility

[Retired APRN, MSN, RN, APRN]

Is this a sudden change? How have they been before? What about the physical assessment? What are their vitals? How do their pupils look? What comorbid conditions do they have? Are they diabetic? What meds are they on? Have they had a head injury? Do they have a fever? Have they had the opportunity to drink alcohol or use drugs recreationally? And so on.

Remember: Psych patients always die of physical causes.

[TerpGal02, ASN]

All that above and your real biggest issue would be making sure they are on fall precautions. With confused/sedated/lethargic people (which a lot of the meds do, esp if someone has psychosis on top of it) is just to be calm, speak quietly, and usually just guide them to their room or another safe, quiet environment.