ADL performance and dependency on nursing care in patients with hip fractures and acute confusion in a task allocation care system

In a prospective study 35 patients operated on for cervical hip-fractures were followed with respect to Acute Confusional State (ACS), problems of basic nursing care and dependency on care-givers. Fifteen patients became acutely confused after the fracture. They turned out to be more dependent on help from others than the non-confused patients were even before the fracture. They rapidly reached a significantly higher level of dependence than the non-confused patients and remained on that level throughout the study month. Six months after the fracture the post-operatively confused patients were still highly dependent on care-givers, significantly more than they were before the fracture. Only three of them were not hospitalised. All the non-confused patients lived in their own homes six months after the fracture and had regained the same level of independence as before it. These findings will be discussed in relation to the organisation of the nursing care. Task allocation nursing care was applied in the wards. A model for the development of dependency in acutely confused hip-fracture patients will be presented and suggestions for how to reduce nurse/patient dependency induced by nursing care will be made.