As the late afternoon shadows lengthen across the country, millions of people begin to experience an invisible shift within their homes. An otherwise calm elder with dementia suddenly becomes anxious and begins to pace the house or to ask to “go home.” Such behaviour is known as sundowning.

Sundowning is not the result of stubbornness by the elderly individual. Instead, it results from both the exhaustion of the brain that has dementia and the disruption of its internal circadian clock. The brain, struggling to process the fading light of the sun and the shadows that fall across the house, becomes disoriented to the changes that happen throughout the household during the late afternoon and early evening hours. These issues often lead to insomnia during the nighttime hours. For Home Care Gloucester, visit https://broomfieldcare.com/

However, addressing the issue of sundowning and the difficulties that arise during the nighttime hours is important to avoid burnout of the caregivers. Caregivers who are exhausted from caring for their loved ones throughout the day cannot provide the level of care required to the people in their care after midnight. So, addressing the nighttime hours will help to avoid the relocation of the elderly people to facilities outside of their homes.

One way to combat sundowning is to ensure that the elderly individual’s home is brightly lit beginning at 4:00 PM to eliminate shadows throughout the house.

Reduce evening stimuli: Change the types of stimuli that are present in the house in the evenings; change the news programmes playing on the television to softer music and less stimulating activities.

Use night-shift respite: Hire an aide who will be present in the house and care for the elderly individual between midnight and dawn, allowing the primary caregivers to receive some sleep and to recover from their exhaustion.

Errors with medicines can happen quickly and go unnoticed. Knowing the most common errors with medicines will help to recognise and prevent them.

Wrong Dose on the Chart

Double check the prescribed dose of the medication against the dose you are about to administer. A simple error of a decimal point could result in 10 times the intended dose of medication being administered to a resident. Just because a chart has been used before does not mean that it is correct.

Similar-Sounding Drug Names

Some medicines have very similar names, for example hydroxyzine and hydralazine. Make sure you read the full name of the medicine and don’t just go for the first few letters. If you are unsure of the name of the medicine, check with a more experienced colleague before administering it.

Missed Signatures and Records If you are looking for Safe handling of medication, see https://www.tidaltraining.co.uk/health-and-social-care-courses/safe-handling-of-medication-training.

A missed signature is not just a matter of misplaced paperwork. It is proof that a medicine has or has not been given. A record should be signed at the time of administration, not hours later when the facts have been forgotten. The safe handling of medicines guidance from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (2010) highlights accurate, contemporaneous records as a core standard for safe medicine administration.

Overlooked Expiry Dates

Expired medicines can be unsafe and ineffective. Make a habit of checking the date of expiry when you pick up a box of medicines. Don’t assume that just because a box of medicines has been there before that the date of expiry is still valid.

Poor Storage Conditions

The same thought should be given to the storage of medicines. A number of medicines are stored in the fridge and others need to be kept in the dark and/or protected from moisture. Safe administration of medicines is not just about careful handing of the tablets/medicines, it is also about safe storage of them as well.

Catching a few errors along the way can stop harm coming to residents.