Holistic Care of Dementia Patients: Nursing Staff's Competencies and Challenges - Research Paper

Abstract

This research paper has a purpose to research and explain the skills that nursing staff require in holistic care of dementia patients. Different competencies of the nursing staff are discussed, and an explanation of the challenges and skills that the nurses who act as caregivers to dementia patients are done. The first chapter is the introduction, which generally offers an overview of holistic care in dementia patients and the competencies required by different nursing staff. The chapter also introduces different terms and concepts used for dementia patients and the nursing staff and how they are useful in the rest of the research paper. The second chapter is the literature review, which analyzes past researches by different authors in the past decade. The literature review is an essential section of the research paper as it helps to formulate the results and discussions. It also provides information for the researcher to give more information that is required to obtain the objectives of the research as well as answer all research questions presented in the introduction. The third chapter of the research is the methodology part that explains the sources used in this research paper. The primary sources are divided into research design, sample size, sampling, and data collection. The fourth chapter is the results section, which is acquired from the participants of the interviews and questionnaires and how they relate to the secondary sources used. The results are used to formulate the discussion, and the contributions of the primary and secondary sources to the information acquired. The last part is the conclusion that gives a summary of the information in the paper.

Introduction

Holistic care is a useful model used in the care of patients, especially for many nurses in the health industry. It includes different approaches such as education, communication, and other primary complementary treatments that will help to deal with patients, especially those under dementia care. There must exist a positive relationship between health providers and patients that include respect, equality, mutuality, openness, and participation of patients in the decision making process of care (Zamanzadeh et al., 2015, pp. 214-224). Holistic care also increases the understanding of patients and their needs by the nurses. The nurses have to respect the role of their patients in the process of treatment for easy therapeutic consultations. Literature review on holistic dementia care shows evidence that many studies performed are usually limited to certain areas like in old patients that are terminally ill.

Background of the Study

Dementia is a syndrome that mainly affects older adults with signs such as loss of memory, deteriorated thinking, ability to perform daily activities and behavior. Dementia causes a lot of dependency among older adults with several impacts on the physical, social, economic, and psychological effects on them and their families (Ambal and Choudar, 2017, pp. 1-4). The dependency and disabilities of older people due to Dementia creates a need for nursing staff to provide care for such individuals and they act as their caregivers.

The number of individuals that live with Dementia is increasing daily, and it creates a need for acute care, and hospitalization creates a need for more nurses to care for the patients, most of whom live with different comorbidities. The training of different nurses working in dementia care is necessary as it acts to meet social needs of the patients both at home and hospitals (Ambal and Choudar, 2017, pp. 1-4). Nurses that are trained in dementia care are in high demand and they possess different skills that help separate them from other types of nurses hence they achieve professional satisfaction.

Rationale of the Study

Many older adults in the world are living with Dementia, which creates a lot of stigma to them both in the rural and urban areas. The health condition causes household members to automatically become caregivers to their patients (Gaugler, Yu, Davila, and Shippee, 2014, pp. 650-657). Those that can afford the services of healthcare, especially in the urban areas, look for care centers with the services of dementia care or hire nurses trained in dementia care in hospitals. The nursing staff is assigned the duty to provide care in dementia practices, mainly in hospitals.

The senior nurses acquire different skills of dementia care and are different from newly registered nurses that lack skills and awareness of Dementia. A large number of nurses trained in dementia care are important in the improvement of the value of services delivered to patients as well as the satisfaction that they provide (Jha, Seavy, Young and Bonner, 2015, pp. 1-16). The training also helps the nurses to remain committed to their professions while retaining services for a long time. Most nurses admit that after they undergo training on dementia care, their practices improve significantly, and they gain a better understanding of the methods to use in the provision of excellent care.

The nurses develop compassion towards the offering of care to individuals with Dementia, develop attitudes that are both positive and caring, develop empathy towards the patients and their families as well as dedicate themselves towards caregiving (de Silva, 2014, pp. 1-80). Nurses also develop enthusiasm to learn several new skills in the future that they can apply in the process of caregiving.

Aims and Objectives

• To determine the primary components required in dementia care.
• To research the reason nurses are essential in dementia care among older adults.
• To determine the competency faced by nurses in holistic dementia care.

Research Questions

• What are the advantages of the involvement of nurses in dementia care?
• What are the roles of nurses in the care of patients living with dementia?
• What skills are nurses required to possess for effective dementia care?

Literature Review

Dementia is a disabling condition among patients who are diagnosed with it, and it is defined as a syndrome that emerges from brain disease. Dementia is a chronic disease that causes disturbance of various cortical functions that reduce the judgment of individuals affected by the disease. According to Ambal and Choudar (2017), the nursing staff is ideal in the provision of care in Dementia, especially in the care provided in hospitals. They are capable of providing the same care at home for those who cannot afford to pay for the care in the hospital (Ambal and Choudar, 2017, pp. 1-4). After a nurse undergoes training in dementia care, they increase their Practice and understanding of issues of how to provide the best care they possibly can.

Rahman and Dening (2016) explain that awareness of Dementia is on the rise, although the improvements required to be realized in the care for such elderly individuals are yet to be understood. Specialist nurses have experienced overwhelming success in dementia care, with the research needed to explore different competencies and knowledge (Rahman and Dening, 2016, pp. 14-17). Dementia care nursing staffs are expected to have possession of high knowledge levels and better skills than other nurses, and also be positioned as clinical groups that are engaged with new working ways.

Nurses in dementia care are expected to focus on the whole family's needs, such as psychological support that helps the patients and their families to understand the thoughts and behaviors as well as to adapt to various changing situations that define the lives of the patients. The use of several interventions by specialists to help patients living with Dementia is significant in the emphasis of early diagnosis and interventions that will support the carers (Rahman and Dening, 2016, pp. 14-17).

Research shows that more than 44 million people in the world live with this health state, and the number is anticipated to increase to 75 million in the year 2030 (Morgan et al., 2016, pp. 120-135). Policies of Dementia enable individuals affected to gain a consensus around competence on care that involves knowledge, attitudes, skills, and performances. The competence of nurses is dependent on context that is related to different existing conditions. Formal dementia care training for the nurses who act as caregivers to the patients affected by this condition is essential as it makes the nurses gain confidence in their styles of handling patients and understanding. Nursing staff that cares for patients with this disease have cited a need to improve their overall capability in dementia care due to a lack of sufficient skills amongst themselves.

An improvement in the understanding of different requirements needed in nurses' dementia care has created a future for the improvement of the staff's work life and the patients' quality care. A relationship also exists between the competency in dementia care and the positive outcomes it has on the staff and their patients (Morgan et al., 2016, pp. 120-135). Increased competence increases the confidence that nurses have in their care for patients living with Dementia; hence they are more probable to embrace an attitude that is person-centered with more satisfaction rates.

Person-centered care is a convenient method used as an excellent guideline for nursing staff to provide care. Monthaisong (2018) defines holistic care as the principle model of person-centered care that is used to advance the quality of life of the those that live with Dementia. Most nurses report that they continuously have negative emotions like exhaustion and frustration when caring for persons living with Dementia (Monthaisong, 2018, pp. 1-6). They often feel meaningless and undervalued with a claim that they are not able to utilize their skills as nurses making them feel vulnerable to other nurses who work in more complex environments of health.

Advantages of Nurses Competence in Dementia Care

Different studies show that many hospitals have adopted a strategy of training their nurses to cater for the elderly patients living and their families. When the nurses get training for Dementia, they can provide care that positively influences dementia care in both the patients and their families (Wiener, Gould, Shum...