Tina Hughes APRN, FNP, CDP
Tina Hughes is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and Certified Dementia Practitioner. Tina has over fifteen years’ experience in hospice, palliative, and complex care management.
Tina carefully considers a person’s physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs when developing an individualized treatment plan. Her holistic approach is unique in that prior to considering pharmacological interventions, Tina assesses for and identifies environmental, communication, and physiological triggers that may be contributing factors.
Examples of Environmental Triggers
lack of routine or structure in the day
Lack of consistency with caregivers
Boredom
Overstimulation (loud noises, crowds)
Social Isolation
Examples of Physiological Triggers
Symptoms such as pain, constipation, urine retention, nausea
Infection (urinary tract infection is the most common)
Metabolic imbalances (vitamin deficiency, abnormal TSH)
Not wearing glasses or hearing aids
Examples of Communication Triggers
Instructions with multiple steps to complete task or too many choices
Caregiver not allowing them to be involved in decision making
Caregiver arguing with them
Difficulty understanding caregiver when caregiver is speaking to them