What is involved in a psych consult?

[Roseyposey]

I'm just finishing my pre-reqs for nursing school, so please understand if I don't use the correct lingo. Excuse the length of this, but I think a little background is necessary. ...I have a grandmother in Florida who recently broke her arm and hip. She has been released from the hospital to a nursing home for rehab. Up until now, she has been living alone, with only a friend visiting her once a week to count pills, grocery shop, etc. She is very frail, blind, going deaf, etc. She has let her once beautiful home turn into an absolute nasty hole. She fell in her kitchen with her walker and apparently lied there for four days before she was found. This all sounds very sad; however, this woman may very well be the meanest, nastiest person on the planet. There is plenty of family close to her, but she's alienated all of them with her sharp tongue. No one will have anything to do with her, but they are rallying around now trying to help her. She's quite comfortable financially, and refuses to give anyone any sort of power of attorney to help in situations such as this. She was nasty to the nurses in the hospital, and is being nasty to the nurses in the rehab. center. She's refusing to take the pain medicine offered to her, because she wants i.v. meds, and they'll only give her pills. In her warped mind, they're withholding her meds. They have ordered a psych. evaluation on her. My question is, what sorts of questions will be asked? I think she may be able to answer questions like what year it is, who's the president, etc., but otherwise doesn't really have any logical reasoning. Sorry again for the length of this; any advice is appreciated.

[zenman]

Go here and see if it helps: http://www.geriatrics.umn.edu/SAT/mentalst.htm

[elkpark]

What kind of questions will be asked depends on the purpose of the psych eval. Is it to evaluate her for competency in order to (possibly) pursue having a guardian appointed by the courts? Is it to evaluate her for depression or other illness in order to treat her for the illness? Is it for someone to help the nursing staff figure out how best to deal with her? There are several possible reasons that an eval might be ordered.