14/02/2012 - How can nurses improve dementia care?

#NurChat to discuss “Dementia Care” 14/02/2012 8pm

There are currently 750,000 people in the UK with Dementia and it is estimated that this will rise to over 1 million by 2021. (Alzheimer’s Society)  The “Report of the National Audit of Dementia Care in General Hospitals 2011” looked at dementia care in 145 wards and during this audit two thirds of staff admitted that they were not trained enough to deal  with dementia, with only 5% of all hospitals having mandatory dementia training.  The report also stated that only 6% of the hospitals had a care pathway in place for people with dementiaand that the ward environment was "often impersonal and not dementia friendly, with excess noise at times and a lack of  orienting cues, dementia aids or areas for socialising"

Why are staff insufficiently trained in dementia care? How does this affect the quality of care for dementia patients?  How can we improve the ward environment for people with dementia ?  How can we ensure that patients with dementia receive the best possible care?

Click the picture to download a prinatble PDF for notice boards

If you would like to do some background reading prior to the discussion there are some interesting articles linked below:

Report of the National Audit of Dementia Care in Hospitals 2011 - CCQI & Royal College Of Psychiatrists

Dementia patients deserve better - The Guardian

Tips for nurses - Alzheimers Society

Dementia care 1 -Nursing Times

Dementia care 2 - Nursing Times

Dementia care 3 - Nursing Times

Living with Alzheimer's: fulfilling a wish -Nursing Times

Living with Alzheimer's: accessing support - Nursing Times

Summary by Teresa Chinn RN
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Post Chat Summary


View the Nursing Times blog for this post

This chat was suggested by @nursemaiden and focussed on dementia care.  The chat started by asking if participants had received any dementia care training? Answers ranged from 1 days training in a three year period to learning from others and having no formal training. It was suggested that we need to prioritise training from the start and the have mandatory training to show that we really care about dementia issues.  Some nurchatters stated that they received mandatory dementia training in their trusts.

The chat then moved on to talk about dementia champions in healthcare organisations and on wards and it was mentioned that every hospital should have a dementia lead. It was challenged that this may be a tick box exercise and that some areas lacked the drive to realise this aim. It was then put forward that dementia care should be something that every nurse is aware of not just a few and that dementia touches most areas of healthcare so should be part of core knowledge.  

It was briefly discussed how delirium can be mistaken for dementia and it was agreed that we need to be able to distinguish.

NurChat then asked about the practical things we can do when caring for people with dementia? Participants suggested- Not putting dementia patients in side rooms as the sensory deprivation can lead to more confusion - Getting to know the pt through their family and person centred planning – Addressing poor staffing ratios for older people

The use of medication was discussed and many felt that medication shouldn’t be used as getting to know the patients would preferable. It was pointed out though that sometimes medications were needed especially in distress caused by hallucinations.

At the end of the chat Nurchat asked what participants would do as a result of the chat?

There were some really positive replies :

AgencyNurse I like the tools that have been shared and I am going to share them offline too :)) #NurChat

mnarajos I will definitely try to get the This Is Me leaflet idea in the nursing home in which I volunteer! Thank you to everyone! #nurchat

SharpTracey @NurChat I'm going to read up on the dementia strategy #NurChat

nursemaiden @NurChat #NurChat I am pleased to hear nursing times are looking at developing an on line dementia learning unit for nurses in acute care

simonbrowes #NurChat Attending the RCN public health conference this week. Will put dementia forward as a PH forum issue

Some useful links that were shared in the conversation

Dementia and antipsychotic drugs - NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement http://t.co/kTpjidpC

Free healthcare passport http://t.co/7jTkACsR

Alzhiemers Society leaflet - This is a very basic but good leaflet http://t.co/q7V2F2UQ

I know some Nurses use the This is Me leaflet to get to know people http://t.co/mPj36cCh

Found this too: http://t.co/tWFMDyUW

Welsh website for improving dementia care a really good audit tool http://t.co/seGVTEyB

Summary by Teresa Chinn RN
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Chat Transcript (via storify)