NURS 251 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Attention Span
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It is fine if the client does not know the exact date. If they can tell you the month, an estimated date or the season/next holiday, consider them oriented to time: attention span, recent and remote memory. You can usually stop here, because there are other tests of cognition that are long and involved: reading/writing/remembering unrelated words. Thought processes: does the person make sense with respect to what they are saying and or believing to be true. Ay: (cid:862)i ha(cid:448)e trou(cid:271)le u(cid:374)dersta(cid:374)di(cid:374)g that you ha(cid:448)e (cid:271)a(cid:271)ies at ho(cid:373)e, you are 80 years old a(cid:374)d are i(cid:374) the hospital(cid:863). Pt (cid:373)ay say: (cid:862)well, that"s the truth, you ha(cid:448)e to get (cid:373)e out of here(cid:863) If reorienting the client is going to produce an angry, anxious client, abandon. Some clients will say that they are suicidal, or may just hint at killing themselves or someone else.
