The interdisciplinary team includes not only nurses and physicians, but also specialized physical therapists, occupational therapists, pharmacists, social workers, quality improvement experts, nutritionists, pastoral care staff and home care coordinators. For this reason, the ACE team places even more importance on making a speedy diagnosis and implementing treatment as quickly as possible to relieve the patient's delirium. The ACE Unit has a special four-bed, delirium care observation room for acutely confused patients. Problems associated with delirium, such as falls and pulling out intravenous lines, might normally require pharmacological and physical restraints. But because patients are more closely monitored in the observation room, these delirium-related problems are minimized.
Older people have a different tolerance for drugs than younger adults.
The ACE team is able to evaluate patient medication and adjust dosage accordingly to be effective but not harmful to the older adult. Elderly patients are more easily debilitated by medical testing. To prevent further decline stemming from medical procedures, the ACE team limits the number of tests requested to only those vital to establishing an accurate diagnosis. To eliminate nutritional decline, patients in the ACE Unit have customized meal plans and access to snacks between meals. A discharge plan is developed for each patient within 24 hours of admission.