Geriatric Quick Consult      Decision-making Capacity      Do #2

Evaluate the patient when the patient is at their best, may require multiple tries

Knowledge	Action
Sick, hospitalized older patients often wax and wane in level of alertness and ability to make decisions. It is possible to be impaired for decision-making in the early morning and capable of decision-making at midday. Evaluate patients when they haven't recently received medications that may affect cognitive function. If possible, evaluate patients when they are fully awake, and not after a long night of testing or emergent care when they are sleepy. When you are uncertain, and the decision is an important one, try a second or third time to see if the patient improves.	evaluate patients without meds evaluate when fully awake try multiple times
Sit the patient up and give them enough time to reach a state of alertness so that they are in an optimal position to respond. It may be helpful to have the discussion with a family member present, especially if the patient's speech is difficult to understand or the patient is hard of hearing.	sit patient up evaluate with family member present