Registered Nurses and CNAs Can Help LBD Patients Remain at Home

In February 2015, many long-time sports fans were saddened to hear about former Blackhawks hockey player Stan Mikita. His medical team believes that he’s suffering from a disease that our registered nurses are well familiar with, Lewy body dementia (LBD). According to the Lewy Body Dementia Association’s statistics, more than one million Americans are dealing with the same disease as the beloved hockey legend. Consequently, many of the people suffering from LBD have come to rely on Florida’s home care agencies, live-in nurses’ aides and registered nurses to help them remain independent for as long as possible.

People diagnosed with Lewy body dementia have a tendency to display a wide variety of symptoms that can make living at home without assistance dangerous. For example, they often experience syncope, loss of consciousness, visuospatial abnormalities, loss of balance and sensitivity to medications. As expected, those types of incidents could lead to serious falls, increased fire risk and a number of other potentially fatal scenarios. Registered nurses could help other members of the person’s healthcare team assess the home for dangerous situations and complete periodic falls risk assessments.

They could complete antipsychotic medication assessments too, which could help head off potential behavior problems and psychiatric disturbances. Both are common in people with advanced Lewy body dementia. In cases where these symptoms are already present, it may be wise for families to consider bringing live-in nurses’ aides into the mix. Live-in nurses’ aides can help Lewy body dementia patients walk, bathe, dress, eat and use the bathroom as needed. They can also take the patients’ vital signs often to ensure that the medications are not causing problems with their blood pressure, heart rate and respiration. To learn more about Lewy body dementia and how both registered nurses and live-in nurses’ aided can help improve a person’s life, please contact us at Best Care.

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