A psychogeriatric nursing assessment protocol for use in multidisciplinary practice

The assessment of geriatric patients with psychiatric or neurobehavioral problems demands a multidisciplinary approach linking nursing, psychiatry, neurology, geriatrics, and internal medicine. While the medical disciplines have relatively well-established approaches to assessing psychogeriatric patients, nursing lacks a comprehensive assessment strategy that supports both nursing and multidisciplinary practice. This article describes the Psychogeriatric Nursing Assessment Protocol (Abraham, 1989) developed for use in a multidisciplinary geriatric neuropsychiatric outpatient clinic. The relationship of the protocol to psychiatric, neurological, geriatric, and medical assessments is discussed in an attempt to clarify the linkages of knowledge and care required for successful service delivery to geriatric patients with psychiatric or neurobehavioral problems, as well as to their families and formal and informal caregivers.