Handling a Dementia Patient: A Reflective Account
During a morning shift I was asked to go in to the lounge which is our high dependency dementia area. There were two members of staff in there however they needed assistance as Mr A was showing signs of challenging behaviour by shouting at staff members and other residents as well as showing physical behaviour.
When I went in to the lounge I Spoke to Mr A to ask how he was, however he raised his voice and was very frustrated and upset with how loud the lounge was as he didn’t know why anyone was making so much fuss in his home and felt it was very disrespectful he explained.
I then tried to resolve this situation by talking calmly to Mr A and taking him over to the window to distract him by looking out in the garden and talking about the weather however this was unable to engage Mr A’s attention. I then asked would he like to go to his room and we could have a quiet chat and a cup of tea or coffee however again he did not want to participate. I then went to his room as I know Mr A has a real interest in cars and has a book in his room on them, I brought the book in to the lounge were Mr A was and I showed him it and started to ask questions, Mr A quickly showed great interest in this subject and was happy to speak to me about cars and share some knowledge that he had on these cars which seemed to really settle Mr A and occupy him. Mr A was then happy to participate in daily living activities.
As the lounge still appeared to be very noisy which was making Mr A agitated I then asked Mr A would he like to go to his room to talk about these cars and have a drink, Mr A was happy to come to his room and wanted to continue showing me photographs on his walls of different cars and seemed to be in a very happy mood I was then able to bring Mr A his lunch and a drink in which he was now happy to sit and eat. Mr A appeared to be a lot more settled now and was happy to have a rest in his room.
After dealing with this situation I then went to the nurse on duty and
When I went in to the lounge I Spoke to Mr A to ask how he was, however he raised his voice and was very frustrated and upset with how loud the lounge was as he didn’t know why anyone was making so much fuss in his home and felt it was very disrespectful he explained.
I then tried to resolve this situation by talking calmly to Mr A and taking him over to the window to distract him by looking out in the garden and talking about the weather however this was unable to engage Mr A’s attention. I then asked would he like to go to his room and we could have a quiet chat and a cup of tea or coffee however again he did not want to participate. I then went to his room as I know Mr A has a real interest in cars and has a book in his room on them, I brought the book in to the lounge were Mr A was and I showed him it and started to ask questions, Mr A quickly showed great interest in this subject and was happy to speak to me about cars and share some knowledge that he had on these cars which seemed to really settle Mr A and occupy him. Mr A was then happy to participate in daily living activities.
As the lounge still appeared to be very noisy which was making Mr A agitated I then asked Mr A would he like to go to his room to talk about these cars and have a drink, Mr A was happy to come to his room and wanted to continue showing me photographs on his walls of different cars and seemed to be in a very happy mood I was then able to bring Mr A his lunch and a drink in which he was now happy to sit and eat. Mr A appeared to be a lot more settled now and was happy to have a rest in his room.
After dealing with this situation I then went to the nurse on duty and