PREVENTION OF CONFUSION IN HOSPITALIZED ELDERLY PERSONS.
Contributors: Case Western Reserve University.
Published: 1984
Number of pages: 113
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Gerontology.
Description: This quasi-experimental study examined the effect of a set of conserving nursing actions designed to prevent confusion in hospitalized elderly persons. Two nursing divisions served as experimental and control settings. A convenience sample of 30 patients on the experimental division received the treatment variable while 30 patients on the control division served as a nonequivalent no-treatment control group. The dependent variable, confusion, was measured twice: once on admission and once on the fourth hospital day. The Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ) and the Clinical Assessment of Mental Status (CAMS) provided the two scores of confusion for each time of measurement. Professional nurses were raters and were randomized to divisions and subjects. The raters were naive as to the experimental and control settings. Following a workshop session, the nurses on the experimental division carried out the treatment. The treatment variable was derived from Myra Levine's "Four Conservation Principles of Nursing" and consisted of nursing actions designed to conserve patient energy and structural, personal, and social integrity. These actions included such things as the presence of clocks and calendars, maintaining fluid balance, maintaining mobility, and a time for nurse-patient interaction. The difference between group score means for each measure of confusion was examined with Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The difference between SPMSQ scores was not significant F□(1,57) = 1.42.□ The regression coefficients for the CAMS scores were significantly different for the groups. The difference between the CAMS scores for hospital day four was not significantly different t□(58) = 1.35.□ The scores on both instruments for hospital day four were minimal; hence, the presence of the phenomenon of confusion in this sample was questionable.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, Section: B, page: 1732.

Thesis (PH.D.)--CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY, 1984.

School code: 0042.