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Nursing Care Plan and Diagnosis Wandering in Alzheimer Dementia

This nursing care plan is for patients who are experiencing wandering due to dementia. According to Nanda the definition of wandering is the state in which an individual with dementia has meandering, aimless, or repetitive locomotion that exposes him or her to harm. Dementia is where a patient suffers from loss intellectual capacity due to damaged brain neurons. These patients may have trouble recalling recent events, problems recognizing family members or places, trouble making judgmental decisions in emergency situations, or suffers from burst of agitation or aggression episodes along with depression.

The defining characterisitics for a dementia patient suffering from wandering is that the patient will ambulate in an aimless/endless manner, may have spatial disorientation, unable to find what they are looking for, or transgresses environmental limits into unsafe locations.

Below is a nursing care plan with diagnosis and nursing interventions/goals for wandering in the Alzheimer patient.

What are nursing care plans? How do you develop a nursing care plan? What nursing care plan book do you recommend helping you develop a nursing care plan?

Nursing Care Plan

This care plan is listed to give an example of how a Nurse (LPN or RN) may plan to treat a patient with those conditions.

Important Disclosure: Please keep in mind that these care plans are listed for Example/Educational purposes only, and some of these treatments may change over time. Do not treat a patient based on this care plan.

Care Plans are often developed in different formats. The formatting isn’t always important, and care plan formatting may vary among different nursing schools or medical jobs. Some hospitals may have the information displayed in digital format, or use pre-made templates. The most important part of the care plan is the content, as that is the foundation on which you will base your care.

Nursing Care Plan for Wandering

If you want to view a video tutorial on how to construct a care plan in nursing school, please view the video below. Otherwise, scroll down to view this completed care plan.

Scenario

A 83 year old female is admitted to your medical surgical floor for persistent urinary tract infection. The patient is responding well to IV antibiotic treatment and is almost fully recovered. The patients past medical history includes Alzheimer dementia, right mastectomy, and hypertension. On arrival to the patients room you find the patient up in the bathroom at the sink. You ask the patient what she is doing and she states she is trying to find her “curlers” so she can fix her hair because she has to go to the store to buy some milk. You try to reorient the patient and assist the patient back to her recliner. One hour later when you come back to the patients room for noon medication pass you find the patient pacing repetitively back and forth from her room to the other patients room next door. Again she is trying to find her “curlers”.  You reorient the patient and assist her back to her room.

Nursing Diagnosis

Wandering related to impaired cerebral function secondary to Alzheimer’s dementia as evidence by patient unable to find what she is seeking and pacing repetitively.

Subjective Data

She states she is trying to find her “curlers” so she can fix her hair because she has to go to the store to buy some milk. Again she is try to find her “curlers”.

Objective Data

A 83 year old female is admitted to your medical surgical floor for persistent urinary tract infection. The patient is responding well to IV antibiotic treatment and is almost fully recovered. The patients past medical history includes Alzheimer dementia, right mastectomy, and hypertension. On arrival to the patients room you find the patient up in the bathroom at the sink. You try to reorient the patient and assist the patient back to her recliner. One hour later when you come back to the patients room for noon medication pass you find the patient pacing repetitively back and forth from her room to the other patients room next door. You reorient the patient and assist her back to her room.

Nursing Outcomes

-The patient will not elope or get lost during hospitalization.

-The patient will remain safe from any harm during hospitalization.

Nursing Interventions

-The nurse will set the chair or bed alarm while the patient is in bed or sitting in the chair.

-The nurse will ensure the environment around the patient is clutter free and hazardous items are away from the patient.

-The nurse will collaborate with other nursing staff to help with monitoring the patient.

-The nurse will relocate the patient closer to the nurses station for constant monitoring.

-The nurse will notify family members and ask if they can come and sit with the patient.

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