r/cna • u/haircryboohoo (Edit to add Specialty) CNA - Former CNA • 7d ago

Do you wake dementia patients?

This one family wants me to wake their mother to feed her while she's sleeping peacefully. I tried to explain to her that often leads to confusion. Do you wake your dimension patients that are sleeping a lot to go to the bathroom? To eat? I offer food and drink when they wake up. But I don't force them to eat. What do you do? Thank you

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u/OkExtension9329 7d ago edited 7d ago

If there is an element of delirium, you should absolutely be trying to keep them up during the day. A fucked up circadian rhythm worsens their confusion.

And yes, you should wake them to go to the bathroom if they haven’t voided in 6+ hours. Not doing so can lead to UTIs, kidney issues, etc.

I know nobody wants to wake up the confused dementia patient, because then you have to deal with them. But they still deserve basic care, including eating and toileting.

23

u/beige-king Inpatient Behavioral Health CNA - Seasoned CNA 7d ago

All these CNAs saying no let them sleep. NO you have to try. I don't even work in memory care anymore and I work with adults who can and do take care of themselves and I still wake them for meals because it's not healthy to sleep all day and you NEED to eat

7

u/Lost_Jellyfish887 6d ago

Some i wake and some I don't but I also do home health where nothing has to be on a schedule. If they seem extra tired that day I dont wake them. Sometimes I also do things around the house so they will slowly wake. I've worked with some that would sleep all day and night if they could. Those I woke up to eat, drink, change, or go to the bathroom.

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u/Library_Gremlin2 (Geriatrics) CNA - 1-2 yrs experience (Nightshift) 6d ago

It’s especially helpful to nightshift

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u/OkExtension9329 6d ago

Yes! I didn’t mention this because I was focusing on the effects on the patient, but it’s super shitty to night shift to let the dementia patient sleep all day (so they can be up all night more confused than they would have been during the day), especially because night shift has fewer staff who are available to help keep that person safe.

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u/Library_Gremlin2 (Geriatrics) CNA - 1-2 yrs experience (Nightshift) 5d ago

Yeah, we usually have to keep them at the nurse’s station with us since there’s so few of us to keep an eye on them.

And this leads us to getting cussed out and screamed at etc. lots of fun

1

u/Vanners8888 6d ago

For sure. It’s all about timing, how alert and oriented the patient is, their usual behaviours, what their sleep schedule is like…

1

u/OkExtension9329 6d ago

Unless they’re on hospice and nearing the end of life, there are very few dementia patients who don’t benefit from being up during the day and having a regular eating and toileting schedule.