Open AccessA multicentre survey of acute hospital nursing staff training in dementia care
Author(s) -
Alice Coffey,
Mark Tyrrell,
Mary Buckley,
Edmund Manning,
Vanessa Browne,
Aoife Barrett,
Suzanne Timmons
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
clinical nursing studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2324-7959
pISSN - 2324-7940
DOI - 10.5430/cns.v2n4p39
Subject(s) - dementia , medicine , acute care , nursing , acute hospital , descriptive statistics , family medicine , health care , disease , pathology , economics , economic growth , statistics , mathematics
Purpose: This paper reports on results of a study to identify education needs of nurses in acute care environments\udregarding dementia care in Ireland.\udMethod: As part of a multicentre study of dementia prevalence and in-hospital course, a survey was conducted with\udnurses (n=151) in six acute hospitals in the south of Ireland. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics.\udFindings: Despite the availability of a national dementia education programme across all care services, 83% of acute\udhospital nursing staff perceived that they had insufficient training in dementia care, reflecting the known poor uptake of\udoffered dementia education in acute hospitals. Over two thirds of nurses felt that education on dementia specific\udcommunication strategies was insufficient or unavailable. Nurses also reported insufficient knowledge with regard to pain\udassessment in patients with dementia, or alternatives to physical or chemical restraint. This lack of knowledge has\udimplications for quality of care and may have consequences for safety of patients with dementia in acute hospitals in\udIreland.\udConclusion: With the expected growth in prevalence of dementia worldwide, more people with dementia will access\udacute hospital care. Education and training to improve dementia care needs to be prioritised in acute hospitals at senior\udlevel