Accuracy of nurse documentation of delirium symptoms in medical charts.

The purpose of this study undertaken in an acute care hospital was to evaluate sensitivity and specificity of the documentation of nurse-reported delirium symptoms in medical charts. This is a descriptive study based on the clinical assessments of a study nurse and nursing notes in the medical charts of 226 delirious older patients newly admitted to an acute care hospital. The results of this prospective validation study indicated that documentation of delirium symptoms is poor. Disorientation, agitation and altered level of consciousness were the three symptoms yielding a higher level of sensitivity, but even so said symptoms were reported in less than a third of the medical charts. Univariate analysis suggested that higher comorbidity level, more severe symptoms of delirium and the use of physical restraints were associated with more valid documentation of delirium symptoms in medical charts. Lastly, this study corroborates results of previous studies, indicating that documentation of delirium symptoms in medical charts can be improved. Future study should target improving nurse documentation of delirium symptoms in medical charts.

Psychiatric outpatient consultation for seniors. Perspectives of family physicians, consultants, and patients/family: a descriptive study.

BACKGROUND: Family practitioners take care of large numbers of seniors with increasingly complex mental health problems. Varying levels of input may be necessary from psychiatric consultants. This study examines patients'/family, family practitioners', and psychiatrists' perceptions of the bi-directional pathway between such primary care doctors and consultants. METHODS: An 18 month survey was conducted in an out-patient psychogeriatric clinic of a Montreal university-affiliated community hospital. Cognitively intact seniors referred by family practitioners for assessment completed a satisfaction and expectation survey following their visits with the psychiatric consultants. The latter completed a self-administered process of care questionnaire at the end of the visit, while family doctors responded to a similar survey by telephone after the consultants' reports had been received. Responses of the 3 groups were compared. RESULTS: 101 seniors, referred from 63 family practitioners, met the study entry criteria for assessment by 1 of 3 psychogeriatricians. Both psychiatrists and family doctors agreed that help with management was the most common reason for referral. Family physicians were accepting of care of elderly with mental health problems, but preferred that the psychiatrists assume the initial treatment; the consultants preferred direct return of the patient; and almost 1/2 of patients did not know what to expect from the consultation visit. The rates of discordance in expectations were high when each unique patient-family doctor-psychiatrist triad was examined. CONCLUSION: Gaps in expectations exist amongst family doctors, psychiatrists, and patients/family in the shared mental health care of seniors. Goals and anticipated outcomes of psychogeriatric consultation require better definition.

[Confusion Assessment Method. Validation of a French-language version]. / Confusion Assessment Method. Validation d'une version française.

There is no systematic or standardized approach to assessing higher mental functions in hospitalized elderly patients, despite the constant presence of nursing staff. The Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) is the only valid and reliable clinical tool for detecting symptoms of delirium easily and quickly, even by health professionals with no specialized training in psychiatry. The CAM has been translated into eight languages, but no validated French-language version has been published as yet. It was in response to this need that the researchers took the first steps in validating a French-language version of the CAM and the diagnostic algorithm, and enhanced the description in French of symptoms of delirium and the criteria of the diagnostic algorithm. The validation process was based on the first two steps in the transcultural validation method for psychological questionnaires suggested by Vallerand. The availability of a French-language version of this instrument will lead to greater professional autonomy and help to simplify the recognition of symptoms of delirium and ensure that the appropriate action is taken sooner.

Nursing work environment and quality of care: differences between units at the same hospital.

The literature suggests that improvements in nurses' work environments may improve the quality of patient care. Furthermore, monitoring the work environment through staff surveys may be a feasible method of identifying opportunities for quality improvement. This study aimed to confirm five proposed sub-scales from the Nursing Work Index - Revised (NWI-R) to assess the nursing work environment and the performance of these sub-scales across different units in a hospital. Data were derived from a cross-sectional survey of 243 nurses from 13 units of a 300-bed university-affiliated hospital in Quebec, Canada, during 2001. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the five subscales were confirmed; three of the sub-scales had greater ability to discriminate between units. Using hierarchical regression models, "resource adequacy" was the sub-scale most strongly associated with the perceived quality of care at the last shift. The NWI-R sub-scales are potentially useful for comparison of work environments of different nursing units at the same hospital.

Systematic detection and multidisciplinary care of delirium in older medical inpatients: a randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: Delirium is common and often goes undetected in older patients admitted to medical services. It is associated with poor outcomes. We conducted a randomized clinical trial to determine whether systematic detection and multidisciplinary care of delirium in older patients admitted to a general medical service could reduce time to improvement in cognitive status. METHODS: Consecutive patients aged 65 or more who were newly admitted to 5 general medical units between Mar. 15, 1996, and Jan. 31, 1999, were screened with the Confusion Assessment Method within 24 hours after admission to detect prevalent delirium and rescreened within a week to detect incident cases. Patients with delirium were randomly allocated to receive the intervention or usual care. Subjects in the intervention group were seen by a geriatric specialist consultant and followed in hospital for up to 8 weeks by an intervention nurse who liaised with the consultant, attending physicians, family and the primary care nurses. Subjects in the usual care group received standard hospital services but could consult geriatric specialists as needed. A research assistant, blinded as to treatment allocation, administered within 24 hours after enrolment the MiniMental Status Exam (MMSE), Delirium Index (measuring the severity of the delirium) and Barthel Index (measuring independence of personal care). Improvement was defined as an increase in the MMSE score of 2 or more points, with no decrease below baseline plus 2 points, or no decrease below a baseline MMSE score of 27. A short form of the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly was completed to identify patients with possible dementia. Subjects were assessed 3 times during the first week and weekly thereafter for up to 8 weeks in hospital or until discharge. Data on clinical severity of illness, length of stay and living arrangements after discharge were also collected. The primary outcome measure was time to improvement in MMSE score. RESULTS: Of the 1925 patients who met the inclusion criteria and were screened, 227 had prevalent or incident delirium and consented to participate (113 in intervention group and 114 in usual care group). There were no clinically significant differences between the intervention and usual care groups except for sex (female 58.4% v. 50.0%) and marital status (married 34.8% v. 41.2%). Overall, 48% of the patients in the intervention group and 45% of those in the usual care group met the predetermined criteria for improvement. The Cox proportional hazards ratio (HR) for a shorter time to improvement with the intervention versus usual care, adjusted for age, sex and marital status, was 1.10 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.74-1.63). There were no significant differences within 8 weeks after enrolment between the 2 groups in time to and rate of improvement of the Delirium Index, the Barthel Index, length of stay, rate of discharge to the community, living arrangements after discharge or survival. Outcomes between the 2 groups did not differ statistically significantly for patients without dementia (HR 1.54, 95% CI 0.80-2.97), for those who had less co-morbidity (HR 1.36, 95% CI 0.75-2.46) or for those with prevalent delirium (HR 1.15, 95% CI 0.48-2.79). INTERPRETATION: Systematic detection and multidisciplinary care of delirium does not appear to be more beneficial than usual care for older patients admitted to medical services.