Title: Using the Mental Status Examination to Assess for Organic Brain Disease ‹Click on the title to begin.

Target Audience: Nurses, Physician Assistants, Physicians

Purpose/Goal:
To describe a method of assessing and screening mental status to differentiate between organic and functional disorders.

Objectives:

At the conclusion of this presentation, the student will be able to:

1. Identify the clinical utility of the mental status examination findings.
2. Determine the appropriateness of administering the mental status exam.
3. Describe the findings in delirium vs. dementia.
4. Identify levels of consciousness and organic implications of each level.
5. Describe the differences between attention and concentration and how the use of the mental status examination distinguishes between the two.
6. Describe language dysfunction as measured by the mental status examination.
7. List the commonly presenting signs of Alzheimer's disease as measured on the mental status examination.
8. Describe the types of organic deficiencies suspected in mental status examination tests of constructional ability.

Biography:

Sharon Moser teaches Clinical Medicine I,II,III, with the assistance of community clinical lecturers, for the Physician Assistant Program at the University of Detroit Mercy. Mrs. Moser has most recently been involved in the practice of Neurology and maintains a clinical license in Psychology and is a certified Physician Assistant. Mrs. Moser holds a B.A. degree from Bloomfield College and Master Degrees from American University, Wayne State University and the University of Detroit Mercy. She previously held a teaching position at American University in Washington, D.C. She has been a full-time clinical instructor at UDM since January, 2000.

Accreditation Information: 3.0 Contact Hours

This educational activity has been provided by the University of Detroit Mercy McAuley School of Nursing, which is approved as a provider of continuing education in nursing by the Michigan Nurses Association, which is accredited as an approver of continuing education in nursing by the American Nurses Credentialing Center Commission on Accreditation.