Dellasega C, Cutezo E
Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802.
J Community Health Nurs. 1994;11(3):129-38. doi: 10.1207/s15327655jchn1103_1.
Home health nursing practice requires the ability to accurately assess elderly clients and, based on this assessment, arrange for needed home care services. Accurate evaluation of a homebound elder's mental status is particularly important, for it indicates whether the individual will be able to survive in his or her home and thereby avoid institutionalization. However, previous studies suggest that nurses in a variety of settings use assessment criteria that result in inaccurate judgements about their client's cognitive status. This study was undertaken to investigate specific strategies used by home health nurses to determine mental status. A convenience sample of 84 home health nurses was surveyed about the assessment criteria they used in their practice. Findings showed that these nurses, like others, rely primarily on orientation to evaluate cognition.
家庭健康护理工作需要具备准确评估老年客户的能力，并基于此评估安排所需的家庭护理服务。准确评估居家老人的精神状态尤为重要，因为这表明该个体是否能够在家中生活，从而避免被送进养老院。然而，先前的研究表明，在各种环境下工作的护士使用的评估标准会导致对其客户认知状态的判断不准确。本研究旨在调查家庭健康护士用于确定精神状态的具体策略。对84名家庭健康护士进行了便利抽样调查，询问她们在工作中使用的评估标准。结果显示，这些护士与其他护士一样，主要依靠定向力来评估认知能力。
