[Verse 1] An elder lies confused in the afternoon ward, His words scatter like quills dropped upon the floor, Yesterday lucid, today he cannot say his name, This is not the slow erosion — this is rapid flame. Delirium descends, an acute disturbance wrought, Attention frays apart like threads of borrowed thought, The prevalence climbs high in postoperative beds, Fourteen to fifty-six percent of hospitalized heads. [Chorus] C-A-M — four criteria, hold them in your mind, Acute onset with fluctuation, inattention you will find, Disorganized thinking, or altered consciousness level clear, CAM is how we catch it, CAM is how we hear, The clock is ticking — this is not a wait-and-see, Delirium is medical emergency! [Verse 2] Hypoactive hides in quiet, mistaken for despair, The patient stares at ceilings, barely seems to care, Depression wears the same dull coat — so easy to confuse, But the onset tells the story in the details that you choose. Hyperactive thrashes, agitated, loud and raw, Pulling at the IV lines with frantic grasping claw, Know your subtypes, know the spectrum, both demand the same — Urgent swift evaluation, find the underlying flame. [Chorus] C-A-M — four criteria, hold them in your mind, Acute onset with fluctuation, inattention you will find, Disorganized thinking, or altered consciousness level clear, CAM is how we catch it, CAM is how we hear, The clock is ticking — this is not a wait-and-see, Delirium is medical emergency! [Verse 3] The causes march in columns — infection leads the corps, Urinary and pneumonia kicking down the door, Medications pile up, the anticholinergic list, Metabolic imbalance — sodium or glucose missed. Now draw the line from dementia — chronic, slow, and staged, Delirium fluctuates, dementia is a cage built over years, Depression blunts affect but spares the orientation, Acute confusion? Pick up the telephone, no hesitation. [Bridge] The therapist is not the one who orders every test, But noticing the shift in someone's cognitive nest — That observation, that report, that well-timed urgent call, May be the clinical act that matters most of all. Educate the family: this is treatable, not fate, The brain can reconstitute if caught before too late, Hold their anxious hands and parse the prognosis with care, Delirious does not mean demented — teach them to prepare. [Chorus] C-A-M — four criteria, hold them in your mind, Acute onset with fluctuation, inattention you will find, Disorganized thinking, or altered consciousness level clear, CAM is how we catch it, CAM is how we hear, The clock is ticking — this is not a wait-and-see, Delirium is medical emergency! [Outro] Acute, fluctuating, inattentive — CAM the score, Refer with urgency and educate the family more, Hypoactive, hyperactive, metabolic, surgical bed, The therapist who recognizes saves more than can be said.
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