Senior Nursing Poster Session (Virtual)
Academic Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
Major
Nursing
2nd Student Academic Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
2nd Student Major
Nursing
Presentation Format
Poster Presentation
Abstract/Description
Introduction
Dementia is a complex disease process that comes with many difficulties. Communication of needs is one of the common difficulties that healthcare workers come across when working with dementia patients. Awareness of this difficulty lead us to the question: What can be done to improve communication and outcomes between dementia patients and their care teams?
Methods
The current assessment policies at Hickory Woods are targeted toward physiological needs of the patient such as vitals, weight, incident reports, medications, and admission assessments. We noted a need in a holistic approach to assessment. We chose to use Maslow’s Hierarchy and Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring to research and create a policy recommendation.
Literature
We found relevant evidence from three articles. Through the findings of these articles, we established that better outcomes are associated with more frequent assessment, the IPOS-Dem tool facilitates more effective communication between patients, staff and families and leads to better patient outcomes, and that using Maslow’s Hierarchy to train staff would lead to better meeting of patients’ needs.
Proposed Policy and Implementation
We decided to propose a new policy that includes an intervention for long-term outcomes and short-term outcomes. The IPOS-Dem used on a biweekly basis will improve long-term outcomes, while keeping Maslow’s Hierarchy on hand to reference and train staff will improve short-term outcomes in everyday interactions with residents. Staff could easily hang a copy of the Hierarchy of Needs in a staff area for reference and add it to the training packet to train new staff. Additionally, staff could fill out the IPOS-Dem at the same time as their monthly weight and skin assessments. Then, they would only have to make time to do one extra assessment per month.
Conclusion
Frequent, holistic assessments of dementia patients will improve outcomes. Evidence shows that including physiological, safety, love and belongingness, esteem and self-actualization needs in patient assessment will improve quality of life and promote wellness. We can implement the findings of these studies by utilizing the IPOS-Dem tool, and training staff to use Maslow’s Hierarchy as an organized approach to investigating what the patient’s current needs are.
Spring Scholars Week 2022 Event
Senior Nursing Poster Session
Understanding Your Residents
Introduction
Dementia is a complex disease process that comes with many difficulties. Communication of needs is one of the common difficulties that healthcare workers come across when working with dementia patients. Awareness of this difficulty lead us to the question: What can be done to improve communication and outcomes between dementia patients and their care teams?
Methods
The current assessment policies at Hickory Woods are targeted toward physiological needs of the patient such as vitals, weight, incident reports, medications, and admission assessments. We noted a need in a holistic approach to assessment. We chose to use Maslow’s Hierarchy and Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring to research and create a policy recommendation.
Literature
We found relevant evidence from three articles. Through the findings of these articles, we established that better outcomes are associated with more frequent assessment, the IPOS-Dem tool facilitates more effective communication between patients, staff and families and leads to better patient outcomes, and that using Maslow’s Hierarchy to train staff would lead to better meeting of patients’ needs.
Proposed Policy and Implementation
We decided to propose a new policy that includes an intervention for long-term outcomes and short-term outcomes. The IPOS-Dem used on a biweekly basis will improve long-term outcomes, while keeping Maslow’s Hierarchy on hand to reference and train staff will improve short-term outcomes in everyday interactions with residents. Staff could easily hang a copy of the Hierarchy of Needs in a staff area for reference and add it to the training packet to train new staff. Additionally, staff could fill out the IPOS-Dem at the same time as their monthly weight and skin assessments. Then, they would only have to make time to do one extra assessment per month.
Conclusion
Frequent, holistic assessments of dementia patients will improve outcomes. Evidence shows that including physiological, safety, love and belongingness, esteem and self-actualization needs in patient assessment will improve quality of life and promote wellness. We can implement the findings of these studies by utilizing the IPOS-Dem tool, and training staff to use Maslow’s Hierarchy as an organized approach to investigating what the patient’s current needs are.