What knowledge and understanding do nurses in the Emergency department have caring for people with Dementia?
Citation
(2016) What knowledge and understanding do nurses in the
Emergency department have caring for people with Dementia?, no. 53.
Abstract
Background
About one fifth of people who attend emergency departments are older people
(Downing and Wilson. 2005) with an estimated 298,867 attendances; by people who
have dementia at Emergency Departments in the UK each year (Luengo-Fernandez,
Leal, and Gray, 2010). Lack of dementia knowledge in hospital staff, together with
demanding workloads and pressure on beds means that people with dementia are
often labelled as difficult and staff often medicate or transfer them on to a psychiatric
hospital since they don't know how to deal with the nature of dementia (Moyle et al.
2008).
Aims
This study aims to identify the knowledge and understanding nurses within
emergency departments have of the care of patients suffering from dementia. This
study will investigate whether nurses' education needs are being met or whether a
specific education needs to be developed.
Methods
The study uses an exploratory descriptive study and the research design would be a
quantitative survey followed by qualitative semi structured interviews. The sample
would be nurses with more than 1 years' experience within emergency departments.
Data will be collected through questionnaires with open and closed questions. Sub
sample of the total sample would then be followed up with semi structured
interviews. Results would be used to support the development of further training
programmes to meet the learning needs of nurses which in turn will improve the current situation so that people with dementia receive care that takes into account
their individual needs and human dignity (Moyle et al. 2010).