 Hi guys, so welcome back to another video. I am going to do a video today on Dealing with and dealing with not really a good word but dealing with patients who have dementia or confusion and I think I finally decided that I'm going to record my videos in here I really like my headboard backdrop if you see on my vlog channel, which is linked below I made a headboard so and blue is going to accompany me because he's needy and he needs his mom huh, so anyways dementia patients can be really um, I Don't want to say anything that's offended anyone so please don't take these words offensive But they can be very difficult patients to deal with with their confusion and lack of understanding And as a nurse it can be very hard. I like to think of dementia patients as almost Babies and hang hang with me here When you're a little when you're a baby or toddler you have a really hard time communicating your wants in your needs so instead of communicating by using words you communicate by Maybe hitting or biting or yelling or crying and you have a really hard time communicating your feelings So you communicate using your emotions and a lot of dementia patients do that as well It's sometimes they're so confused It's hard for them to communicate their feelings and their wants and their needs and so a lot of times will communicate in other ways other than using their words and as a nurse that can be very hard and confusing and Frustrating at times and yeah, so whenever I have a dementia patient I've tried to make sure all of their basic needs are met As far as you like toileting, you know if they're continent and continent what not making sure they feel clean warmth food and drink making sure that they have those Necessities because if you have made those basic needs then you kind of can take away some of that Need to try and communicate in other ways if that makes sense It's also important to understand that imagine being so confused already in your head and then you're used to your routine in your environment and then you go to a new environment and there's new people new Smells new everything and that has to be even more confusing So a lot of times dementia can be even more exacerbated in a new environment, which rightfully so it's confusing So it's important to try and keep a routine as best as you can in the hospital talk to the dementia patients family members or if they came from like a Nursing home or place like that talking to the staff that works there about the routine and trying to keep that similar We had a patient one time back in my old job who was with us for a long time and she didn't even know She couldn't even tell us her name half the time So she was very very confused and you know, we found out that she liked gospel music And she liked playing the piano, so we ended up getting a piano Electric piano we found one for her and we played gospel music for her and that really helped even though her routine was altered She had something that was familiar and comforting to her So finding something that's comforting for dementia patients is important as well It's also important to really acknowledge their feelings a lot of times I'll say things, you know if I'm asking them those orientation questions like do you know where you're at or can you tell Me your name or birthday and if they can't if they get frustrated about thinking about the answer a lot of times They that's okay. I understand that you're in a new environment right now and that can be really confusing and just acknowledging their confusion acknowledging that their emotions and Instead of getting frustrated about oh my gosh, they're being so difficult. They're climbing on a bed. They're picking at things They're pulling out their lines Understanding that it's got to be really confusing and I understand there's different stages of dementia Not everyone totally doesn't remember Everything when they have dementia But if you think of it as communicating more like to a toddler then that can kind of help you Better process things as a nurse it may be not get so frustrated I know it can be frustrating talking to a toddler when you're trying to communicate But hopefully when you're talking to someone who is young you don't yell at them or get aggressive or things like that And so, you know same thing when you and we get older we forget things we you know lose some of our bodily functions and If you just have more of a sweet Approach to it then that can be helpful. So yeah, that is some of my tips on caring for dementia patients It's very very common when you no matter what hospital setting that you're in unless you're like in Peds or OB or something But you're gonna take care of elderly patients and you know dementia is a very common thing in the elderly So I hope this gives you guys some tips if you have any other tips leave them in the comments below Give this video thumbs up and subscribe to my channel and I'll see you guys next time. Bye