Background: Hospital-acquired delirium is serious, leading to increased falls, pressure ulcers, length of stay, cost, patient institutionalization, and patient and caregiver distress. In addition, it is associated with mortality rates as high as 35-40% within one year in older patients who develop delirium. Programs targeted at delirium prevention and treatment may affect these outcomes. We [...]

Background: Hospital-acquired delirium is serious, leading to increased falls, pressure ulcers, length of stay, cost, patient institutionalization, and patient and caregiver distress. In addition, it is associated with mortality rates as high as 35-40% within one year in older patients who develop delirium. Programs targeted at delirium prevention and treatment may affect these outcomes. We [...]

Background: Delirium prevention by multicomponent interventions is proven, with strong evidence confirming its effectiveness in both medical and surgical populations. Identifying high risk patients is very important for resource allocation and utilization. Risk factors for delirium are broadly classified into predisposing and precipitating factors. Combinations of these risk factors precipitate delirium and hence a prediction [...]

Background: Delirium is associated with high morbidity and mortality in hospitalized older adults. Sleep is a modifiable risk factor for delirium. Eye masks (EMs) and earplugs (EPs) have been shown to improve sleep and effective reduce delirium in the ICU. This study examines the clinical usability of this intervention component in general medicine patients. We [...]

Background: Hospitalized elderly patients are at risk for delirium. Despite the widely recognized importance of avoiding potentially inappropriate medications on the BEERS list, hospitalized patients often receive high-risk medications such as benzodiazepines for insomnia. This quality improvement (QI) project aimed to reduce the proportion of at-risk inpatients (defined as any hospitalized patient at age 65 [...]

Background: Delirium is an acute change in mental status affecting 10-64% of hospitalized patients, and may be preventable in 30-40% cases. There was no standardized protocol for delirium at our hospital prior to 2014. In October 2013, we formed a task force for delirium prevention and early identification across 18 medical-surgical units in our hospital. [...]

Case Presentation: A 91 year-old female with history of atrial fibrillation on coumadin, hypertension, prior stroke, myeloproliferative disease, polycythemia vera and recently diagnosed macular degeneration presented with complaints of visual hallucinations for two weeks. She was in her usual state of health when she developed sudden onset of vivid visual hallucinations including people coming in [...]