The care of older people with dementia in rural Australian hospitals – a case study
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Keywords
empathy, health resources, length of stay, risk management, workload
Abstract
Objective: Investigate how nurses in rural hospitals care for people with dementia.
Design: A case study research design.
Setting: Three rural hospitals in one region of the state of New South Wales, Australia.
Subjects: A purposive sample of 21 nurses who were employed at the study sites.
Main outcome measure: Description of how nurses working in rural hospitals care for people with dementia.
Results: Nurses drew upon their community connectedness to creatively use limited resources to provide person-centred care for people with dementia. The physical environment of the hospital influenced rural nurses’ practice, with chemical and physical restraint occasionally used when nurses’ were concerned about workload and safety.
Conclusion: Rural nurses used their community connectedness to help them provide person-centred care for people with dementia, but at times, this care was limited by overriding concerns about risk management and patient safety.
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Kay Shannon RN MN
Lecturer, School of Clinical Sciences Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences Auckland University of Technology 90 Akoranga Drive, Northcote, New Zealand. [email protected]
Mary Cruickshank RN PhD
Professor, Head of School of Nursing, Midwifery and Healthcare, Federation University Office 132, H Building, Mt Helen Campus PO Box 663, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Dr Laurie Grealish RN PhD FCNA
Associate Professor of Subacute and Aged Nursing Menzies Health Institute Queensland and School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University and Gold Coast Hospital and Health Services G2.05c G01, Gold Coast Campus, Griffith University Southport, Queensland, Australia. [email protected]