Caring for people with dementia in the acute setting: a study of nurses’ views

Abstract

Caring for people with dementia in an acute hospital setting presents a number of challenges. This article reports the findings of a study which explored nurses' experiences of caring for older people with dementia in a unit caring for older people within an acute hospital. The study used a thematic approach to produce an interpretation of the care experience and a purposive sample of seven nurses was interviewed regarding the research aims. The findings revealed the structural inadequacies of the acute hospital as a dementia care environment and the resultant challenges and complexities of the care experience. Despite the identified challenges, nurses considered the specific needs of people with dementia and the environmental effects of the acute setting on their ability to meet identified needs.