Delirium: clinical manifestations, causes, and treatment approaches

Delirium in Nursing: Comparing & Contrasting

The overall topic of both nursing articles is delirium. Delirium is a mental syndrome that is most likely to affect elderly patients who have spent a prolonged amount of time hospitalized, and may be particularly susceptible to delirium if doctors performed a surgical procedure. The piece by Schuurmans et al. (2001) is a succinct overview of the disease. Those authors review areas such as definitions, risk factors, the role of nurses in the recognition and treatment of delirium, as well as the kind of screening instruments used upon those who may be delirious. The article by Ramaswamy et al. (2010) is additionally upon the topic of delirium, but with a much more specific intention and purpose to improve the diagnoses, screening, and treatment of delirium. The first article by Schuurmans et al. (2001) is a general overview of delirium providing keen information for the layman or the expert. The article by Ramaswamy et al. (2010) is a research study and experiment to improve delirium interventions and treatments. The second article presumes that the reader is already aware of the information that is presented in the first article.

Discussion of Common Themes

In addition to the similarity in subject matter, both articles communicate a sincere concern for those with delirium and an urgency for improvement in the diagnoses and treatments of delirium. Neither set of authors of each article takes the subject of delirium lightly or superficially. The 2001 article is more of a literature review of pertinent definitions, statistics regarding incidences, and how nurses handle delirious patients on top of whatever other reasons for which they receive treatment. The articles have distinctly different tones in which they deliver the information and their respective layouts differ as well. This is to say that the tone of the information delivery differs and the presentation of said information differs.

The 2010 article is longer and perhaps the authors chose to add more variation to the layouts of each section as a way to capture and maintain the attention of the reader, as well as to sustain that attention for the complete duration of the article. The first article is moderately short; therefore, the demand for attention is not as high. Both sets of authors from each article agree that there is a substantial lack of attention and research regarding delirium. Both articles serve to inform and motivate further research on this topic. The 2010 article is an example of an experiment in the intervention of delirium while the 2001 article is an example of a summary of the information available and current perspective on this medical condition.

Conclusion/Summary