Nurses' perceptions in caring for people with dementia in Dutch acute hospitals

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Overall, this study aimed to describe nursing care for patients with dementia in acute hospitals, with the objectives of describing the provided nursing care (a), nurses’ attitudes and perceptions in caring for patients with dementia (b), and exploring how nurses deal with challenging behaviour (c). Additionally, we determined background variables associated with caring for people with dementia. BACKGROUND: Due to comorbidities, people with dementia are frequently admitted to acute care hospitals. Here, they are at high risk of complications. Nurses strive for good care but regularly experience insufficient knowledge and skills regarding caring for people with dementia. DESIGN: A cross‐sectional survey study design. METHODS: Data were collected in seven Dutch acute hospitals and through social media. In total, 229 hospital nurses completed the questionnaire. We used the Geriatric In‐Hospital Nursing Care Questionnaire and two subscales of Hynninen on managing challenging behaviour. This report followed the STROBE checklist. RESULTS: Nurses express that they often apply general preventive interventions not explicitly related to dementia care. In general, nurses have mixed feelings about the nursing care provided in their department. For challenging behaviour, a variety of approaches, including restrictive measures and medication, is applied. The nurses’ attitudes and perceptions are influenced by the type of hospital where the nurses work, the level of education, the number of hours nurses work, and if the nurses completed a course on dementia in the last year. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a positive attitude, nurses do not have the specific knowledge and skills needed to provide proper care. Nurses who recently completed a course on dementia had more positive attitudes and perceptions towards caring for patients with dementia. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The results of this research can be used to improve the quality of nursing care for patients with dementia in acute hospitals

The consistency between planned and actually given nursing care in long-terminstitutional care

Continuous information exchange between healthcare professionals is facilitated by individualized care plans. Compliance with the planned care as documented in care plans is important to provide person-centered care which contributes to the continuity of care and quality of care outcomes. Using the Nursing Interventions Classification, this study examined the consistency between documented and actually provided interventions by type of nursing staff with 150 residents in long-term institutional care. The consistency was especially high for basic (93%) and complex (79%) physiological care. To a lesser extent for interventions in the behavioral domain (66%). Except for the safety domain, the probability that documented interventions were provided was high for all domains (≥ 91%, p > 0.05). NAs generally provided the interventions as documented. Findings suggest that HCAs worked beyond there scope of practice. The results may have implications for the deployment of nursing staff and are of importance to managers

Nurses' perceptions in caring for people with dementia in Dutch acute hospitals

Aims and objectives Overall, this study aimed to describe nursing care for patients with dementia in acute hospitals, with the objectives of describing the provided nursing care (a), nurses' attitudes and perceptions in caring for patients with dementia (b), and exploring how nurses deal with challenging behaviour (c). Additionally, we determined background variables associated with caring for people with dementia. Background Due to comorbidities, people with dementia are frequently admitted to acute care hospitals. Here, they are at high risk of complications. Nurses strive for good care but regularly experience insufficient knowledge and skills regarding caring for people with dementia. Design A cross-sectional survey study design. Methods Data were collected in seven Dutch acute hospitals and through social media. In total, 229 hospital nurses completed the questionnaire. We used the Geriatric In-Hospital Nursing Care Questionnaire and two subscales of Hynninen on managing challenging behaviour. This report followed the STROBE checklist. Results Nurses express that they often apply general preventive interventions not explicitly related to dementia care. In general, nurses have mixed feelings about the nursing care provided in their department. For challenging behaviour, a variety of approaches, including restrictive measures and medication, is applied. The nurses' attitudes and perceptions are influenced by the type of hospital where the nurses work, the level of education, the number of hours nurses work, and if the nurses completed a course on dementia in the last year. Conclusions Despite a positive attitude, nurses do not have the specific knowledge and skills needed to provide proper care. Nurses who recently completed a course on dementia had more positive attitudes and perceptions towards caring for patients with dementia. Relevance to clinical practice The results of this research can be used to improve the quality of nursing care for patients with dementia in acute hospitals

The Spirituality of Children with Chronic Conditions:A Qualitative Meta-synthesis

Problem: For an increasing group of children with chronic conditions worldwide, there is growing evidence that spiritual care fromhealthcare professionals is important to help themcope with illness and disability. As there is yet little known of which needs should be addressed with this pediatric spiritual care, this synthesis of the literature aims to clarify these needs. Eligibility criteria: all nursing, education and psychology peer-reviewed research studies, published in English between 2000 and 2017, focussing on spirituality or spiritual needs of children between 0 and 18 years old with a physical chronic condition, from their own perspectivewere eligible. Sample: Twenty articles of whichwere two reviews and eighteen single studies were included reporting on children between 0 and 21 years. Included chronic conditionswere type 1 diabetes mellitus, Duchene muscular dystrophy, HIV/aids, asthma, sickle cell disease, cystic fibrosis and cancer. Results: Children's spirituality seemed to be shaped by a search for identity focusing on normalcy and expressed their beliefs mainly in their relationship with a supportive God, using mostly religious language. Relational aspects, contextual aspects and spiritual/religious coping can generate spiritual issues or needs which influence health and adjustment to livingwith chronic conditions. Conclusions: Spirituality is an integral aspect of life and child development, requiring spiritual care from healthcare professionals when children face a physical chronic condition. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Accuracy of documentation in the nursing care plan in long-term institutional care

Nursing staff working in long-term institutional care attend to residents with an increasing number of severe physical and cognitive limitations. To exchange information about the health status of these residents, accurate nursing documentation is important to ensure the safety of residents. This study examined the accuracy of nursing documentation in 197 care plans of five long-term institutional care facilities. Based on the phases of the nursing process, the D-Catch instrument measures the accuracy of the content and coherence of documentation. Inadequacies were especially found in the description of residents' care needs and stated nursing diagnoses as well as in progress and outcome reports. In somatic and psycho-geriatric units, higher accuracy scores were determined compared with residential care units. Investments in resources (e.g., time), reasoning skills of nursing staff, and implementation of professional standards in accordance with legal requirements may be needed to enhance the quality of nursing documentation