Reorienting Ourselves to Delirium: Caring for Older Patients Hospitalized With Heart Failure

Caring for older patients hospitalized with heart failure is increasingly complex. Clinicians are often managing not only an acute heart failure exacerbation, but also multiple comorbidities, polypharmacy, and psychosocial needs. One additional, and often overlooked, condition affecting patients with heart failure is delirium. Delirium is common in hospitalized older adults; yet, its diagnosis, management, and, most important, prevention, remain poorly understood. Delirium is associated with an increase in mortality, complications, length of stay, and likelihood of discharge to a postacute nursing facility and can persist beyond hospital discharge.
Source: Journal of Cardiac Failure - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Editorial Source Type: research