Using validation techniques to improve communication with cognitively impaired older adults.

1. Nurses working with confused older adults in clinical settings need improved communication techniques. 2. Reality orientation is commonly used in nursing homes with disoriented persons; experienced nurses, however, often find it meets with withdrawal, vegetation or increasing hostility. 3. Validation strategies are communication techniques which are specifically matched to a particular stage of confusion. 4. When validation techniques are appropriately matched to confusional stage the effectiveness of the intervention can be significantly improved.