Navigating Personal Biases and Emotions in Alzheimers Care- Insights from Clinical Experience

Navigating Personal Biases and Emotions in Alzheimers Care- Insights from Clinical Experience

Alzheimer’s disease remains the most common type of cognitive disorder, accounting for more than 60% of all cognitive disorders. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by cognitive decline and has an insidious onset, often occurring in adults 65 years and above. The early-onset disease is also apparent but highly unusual, accounting for only 10% of all Alzheimer’s cases. AD causes progressive and irreversible impairment of cognitive and behavioral functionalities, with memory, reasoning, comprehension, judgment, and language declines being pronounced. Symptom classification of AD is dependent on the stage of the disease and includes preclinical, mild, and dementia stages. Therapies utilized in AD are targeted at slowing the progression of the disease and improving the quality of life of these patients (Weller & Budson, 2018). This paper seeks to report the management experience of Alzheimer’s disease during my clinical rotation. Do you need help with your assignment ? Get in touch with us at eminencepapers.com.

AD presents with complex care requirements that complicate the entire care process for these patients. During my AD clinical rotation, these complexities were apparent and often affected the overall approach to patient handling. I often felt frustrated, tensed, and guilty when handling these patients. Frustrations were majorly attributable to the unpredictable behavior of these patients. On the other hand, the feeling of guilt was due to the perception that I may not have been doing enough to make these patients feel comfortable. Some AD patients often presented with a characteristic aggressive and combative behavior that made me feel uncomfortable and rather tense when handling them.

Various prejudices were apparent during the care processes for AD patients. These included the perpetuation of misleading information on the disease, inadequate support from patient relatives, loss of self-worth, and lack of awareness, especially by the patient’s family and relatives. These prejudices impacted the patients negatively and were implicated in some patients’ poor quality of life. Biases and discrimination were also present in AD care. These biases, however, exhibited an unpredictable pattern and, in most cases, were relatable to the individual patient’s race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background. Patients with better socioeconomic backgrounds tend to receive better care compared to their counterparts from poor backgrounds. Race and ethnic components produced specific barriers to care processes that are relatable to their cultural affiliations as well as language barriers. All these factors complicated the care processes and added to the clinical complexities that caregivers have to navigate to enhance the quality of life of these individuals.

Various strategies were employed to manage these complexities. First, I learned to understand the patients and their behaviors. Calmness when dealing with these patients was also pivotal and enabled me to understand their situation as well as care requirements. I also embraced patience and flexibility in the care process since AD patients exhibit unpredictable behavioral changes, such as mood swings. Additionally, I always avoided arguing with these patients to prevent them from being combative and aggressive. I also learned to acknowledge their requests, respond appropriately, and never take whatever they told me personally. Accepting the patients for who they are, seeing them as human beings, and not judging them by their incarcerations or backgrounds also enabled me to offer them excellent care.

Several assumptions are made during the care process for patients with mental illnesses. The first assumption I made was that the patients are likely to behave inappropriately but will still retain the right to be accorded excellent and ethical care. Another assumption was that the patients may have lost nearly all their cognitive abilities but may still respond to dignified treatment, warmth, and respect. Cognitive losses in this regard do not guarantee improper or harsh treatment from caregivers. Also, patients’ combativeness or aggression may be due to their lack of understanding of the subject matter and rather not a reaction to a caregiver’s action. Another assumption is that patients with AD require critical care and that the caregivers are very important to them. These assumptions enabled me to navigate the complexities presented by these patients.

Handling AD patients accorded me the opportunity to better understand the disease process and its overall implications for public health. During my clinical experience, I learned that knowledge of AD is still inadequate both to the caregivers and to the general public. This inadequate knowledge of the disease process has been implicated in disparities in healthcare provision as well as discrimination and stigmatization of the disease. I also learned that significant differences exist in the individual clinical presentations of AD. Therefore, these differences in clinical presentations call for an individualized approach when handling Alzheimer’s patients. The knowledge acquired during this clinical rotation will enhance my overall approach to Alzheimer’s care.

Alzheimer’s clinical rotation accorded me a specific set of clinical skills that may be pivotal in my general care provision processes. My clinical knowledge of AD has greatly improved. This clinical rotation has enabled me to better understand the Alzheimer’s disease process, its diagnosis, and the therapeutic approaches that are currently utilized in the management of this disease. It has also enabled me to appreciate the significance of care providers, especially nurses, in overall care provision, especially to patients with higher care requirements. My experience at the AD unit has also enabled me to appreciate how the collaboration of various healthcare cadres is useful in the general enhancement of care outcomes in patients with chronic disorders. Additionally, I have been able to appreciate the significance of nursing ethics in care provision processes. Nursing ethics is crucial as it enables care provisions to patients without discrimination or biases that may otherwise interfere with caregiver decision-making and the ultimate care provision process.

Experiences obtained from this clinical rotation will significantly define my practice as a professional nurse. First, it has enhanced my competency in nursing as far as AD is concerned. The skills obtained in this rotation will enable me to offer excellent nursing care to AD patients. It has also enhanced my knowledge of the ethical provisions that guide nursing practice and their significance. Ethical provisions such as offering care to those who need it regardless of their backgrounds, situations, or affiliations were key during care provisions at the AD unit. Ethical principles of justice, respect, beneficence, and non-maleficence were also key. Understanding these ethical provisions has incredibly defined my nursing practice and will be crucial in my professional practice.

In conclusion, navigating the complexities presented by AD patients is key to the overall enhancement of their care outcomes. Clinical rotations offer opportunities that enable learners to appreciate these complexities as well as a specific set of skills that are utilized in navigating these complexities. Negative feelings, prejudice, and biases are often characteristic of the Alzheimer’s disease care process. Managing these experiences by understanding these patients and embracing calmness and patience are critical in the overall care provision for these patients. Experience at the AD units often warrants the establishment of assumptions that aid in care provision, as described above. This experience also equips nurses with skills that are utilizable in professional care for this disease.

References

Weller, J., & Budson, A. (2018). Current understanding of Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis and treatment. F1000research, 7, 1161. https://doi.org/10.12688/

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What feelings, prejudices and biases did you experience during your Alzheimer’s unit clinical experience? Remember, this applies to your observations of patients and patient care and your feelings about those you cared for.

How did you manage them?
What assumptions did you make about mental illness and persons with mental illness?
What awareness did you develop during your clinical experience?
How did you change as a result of your clinical experience?
How will this experience impact on you as a nurse?