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Thank you for posting this, MomMD. I have heard heartbreaking stories from caregivers of elderly patients with dementia, even mild dementia. who were given ativan. I already knew benzos were a big no-no for the type of dementia my Dad suffered, and made sure to specify “no benzos” every time he was admitted to hospital. After hearing them, I was so glad I did!

Most nurses are great with elderly patients. Some are quick to cry “agitation” and “aggressive behaviors” when it is their nursing skills that are lacking. I had to really watchdog my Dad when he was in the hospital after Covid. The level of nursing care had obviously gone down from what it was pre-Covid, and while I sympathized with what they had gone through, it made for a difficult patient experience.

After telling me to remove his hearing aids before an ultrasound test (they easily get lost when transferring a patient), which of course I did, this nurse came charging in and began trying to give him a heparin shot while he was dozing. Of course the poor man reflexively moved his arms in a defensive protective way (not aggressive!), and she tried that agitation aggression schtick. I calmly explained she had frightened a sleeping man who could not hear, and now that he was awake could not read her lips as she was masked, and if she would wait a moment for me to explain to him in his “better” ear what she wanted to do, all would go well. And it did. No drugs needed. Just basic human decency.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov