elderly woman looking out window

Improve Your Communication and Relationship with Alzheimer’s Patients: A Guide for Nurses

Minority Nurse | By |

Even nurses who work with dementia patients everyday can find it emotionally and professionally challenging to care for someone with Alzheimer’s.

Yes it’s painstaking work that requires awareness, self-control, persistence, and a very substantial fund of patience.

And no; at some point almost any nurse outside pediatrics will care for dementia patients. The CDC estimates that 14 million people in the US will suffer from dementia by 2060, and that Hispanic and Black Americans will see the largest increases in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias over the next few decades – so most nurses need to be able to communicate effectively and develop a healthy relationship with these patients.

Every new day brings new challenges, as the disease is, unfortunately, progressive. There are so many aspects to think of, because Alzheimer’s causes issues with:

  • Comprehension of word meanings
  • Attentiveness
  • Judgment and the line of reasoning
  • Problem-solving and memory
  • Reaction to sounds, etc.

Following the below guidelines can help you prevent miscommunication and maintain a pleasant environment for creating better patient relationships.

How to Create a Positive Relationship with a Patient who has Dementia

Talk to carers

It is highly beneficial for nurses or certified nursing assistants to speak with carers regularly, if there’s such an opportunity. Collect some critical information about each dementia patient and use it wisely to predict strong and weak points that may occur during any interaction.

Learn your patient’s tastes, likes and dislikes

Talking to caregivers and patients themselves, you also discover their preferences in food, clothes, favorite pastime, etc.

Note that some colors or a specific noise, as well as other factors, may easily upset an Alzheimer’s patient.

See also
Culturally Sensitive Dementia Care

People with dementia are unable to manage moods. That’s why sudden rage and distress are typical things during the dementia anger stage.

For example, Mrs. Crookshank, a nurse at a private memory care center, shares that they use pink and purple colors whenever it’s possible to calm down AD patients during the outburst of aggression.

Significantly, purple was one of the preferred colors among people with dementia, according to the Lüscher color test.

Strive for sensitivity and positivity

To deliver culturally competent dementia care, you should realize how burdensome it is to be struggling and making every effort to utter words. Don’t overdo it though hyper-sympathy can make things worse. Some CTAs/nurses start treating their dementia patients like babies, in this case. That’s ineffective and pointless, in the first place.

Stimulate and motivate patients to contact

Adapting activities may help you out. When you do something together with your AD patients, they feel your presence and your attitude.

You may try art therapy, dancing or even meditation. Brett Larkin, a certified yoga teacher, says that Meditations increase brain longevity. I often meditate with people who have Alzheimer’s. Breathing techniques, in particular, help them feel better and chill out.

Show your patients that you actually care.

How do you do that?

Everything’s simple demonstrate it with your actions and with your words.

A nurse’s guide to building effective communication with Alzheimer’s patients

Effective work with Alzheimer’s disease patients cannot be achieved without a proper patient-oriented communication.

The most important thing is the quality of communication between nursing staff and their patients.

How to improve non-verbal communication

Keep in mind that non-verbal communication is dependent on the patient’s reaction to any physical contact, but here are some basic tips:

  • Come up to the person with Alzheimer’s from the front
  • Be at the same eye level
  • Maintain eye contact
  • Take control over nonverbal signals like your facial expression and movement
  • Comfort and reassure patients with gentle touches or simply holding their hands
See also
Nurses Offer Excellent Brain Health Information

How to improve your verbal communication

  • Work out a simpler dialogue scheme
  • Call AD patients by the names they prefer to hear
  • Provide clear and easy instructions, calmly repeat them once again, if necessary
  • Rephrase or use synonyms, if your previous words were not understood
  • Use alternative questions with 2 choices like Do you want to read outside or inside? and yes/no questions like Are you sleepy?
  • Don’t criticize, argue or interrupt a patient
  • Control the volume of your voice
  • Avoid negativism and baby talk

 

Some do’s and don’ts for verbal exchanges with a dementia patient

“The hardest thing was to work with family members who talked about their loved ones in their presence, as if they were not there. They also expressed annoyance, if something was not like they had expected.

Care Team Assistant at the Alzheimer’s Family Center

We asked a Care Team Assistant about the most upsetting phrases she has heard. The normal complexities of dealing with family can combine with the frustration of trying to converse with a relative suffering from Alzheimer’s can provoke all sorts of unintentionally cruel remarks. Nurses should be ready to flex their diplomatic skills when they hear outbursts like these:

You’re freaking me out! I hate you!

You’ve lost your mind! 

Can’t you remember anything at all?

How many times should I tell you this?

 

Here are some positive verbal approaches recommended by nurses specializing in dementia care:

Please, take/do this instead of Don’t take/do this (give instructions instead of don’ts)

Thank you for help

Let’s try another way

See also
African-Americans Twice as Likely as Africans to Develop Alzheimer Disease

I’m glad you’re feeling better

Remember: impatience is your most dangerous enemy, when you communicate with dementia patients. To cope with annoyance, expand your clinical judgment and critical thinking skills.

You’re only human!

Caring for Alzheimer’s patients, you shouldn’t forget that you’re not a super-human. At the same time, it’s quite arrogant to think you can leave everything as it is.

There’s always room for improvement in building and establishing a good relationship with your patients who have Alzheimer’s disease. Here are a few resources to help you enhance progress in conversations and boost your skills:

Koren Thomas
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