Water intoxication in nursing home
METHODS TO IDENTIFY polydipsia among elderly nursing home residents have been imprecise or absent. Typically persons with polydipsia are not identified until a life-threatening water intoxication episode occurs and they are transferred to an acute care facility for medical and psychiatric management. Yet these individuals are exhibiting behaviors consistent with polydipsia for weeks or months and are simply not identified by most health care workers. Even today, nursing home employees are not familiar with or skilled in identifying these symptoms and/or how to manage polydipsia. Routinely, these workers are trained to force fluids to prevent dehydration so commonly found in ...