title: Delirium in the terminally-ill cancer patient: aetiology, symptoms and management.
abstract: Delirium is a frequent and serious clinical problem in the terminally ill cancer patient. Multiple dimensions of delirium make definition, measurement, and assessment of it challenging in clinical nursing practice. Assessment and management of delirium requires knowledge of the diagnostic criteria for it, aetiology, signs and symptoms, and nursing interventions. Four delirium assessment scales determined to be useful in assessing patients with terminal illness are reviewed. The use of a delirium assessment instrument in routine nursing assessments would be important for the nurse's early detection of delirium so that interventions to reverse the causes of delirium could immediately be implemented.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Degner
mesh_terms: D003693:Delirium / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000451:nursing*; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods*; D012944:Social Support
chemical_list: D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives