Nurses' Experiences Providing Care for People with Dementia: An Integrative Literature Review

Aims and objective: This article seeks to review the experience of registered nurses providing care for dementia patients including theoretical perspectives that have been used to provide care for people with dementia. Background: Nurses have a vital role in providing special and personalized care for people with dementia and also their family members. However, there is little knowledge about the experiences of nurses providing care for people with dementia in Thailand. Design: An integrative literature review. Method: This literature review of 19 articles was undertaken to encapsulate what research has done in the experience of nurses providing care for people with dementia. Results: Four themes related to the nurses’ experiences of providing care for people with dementia included encountering with painful emotions, working under severe conditions, meeting holistic care needs, and experiencing inadequate knowledge. Factors contributing to appropriate care for people with dementia and barriers to meet the optimal care were identified in this article. Conclusion: Nurses experienced struggling with painful emotions and working under difficult circumstances and there was the need for meeting spiritual care needs of patients. Nurses identified that a lack of knowledge of dementia and the need for improved effective communication when they provided care for a group of these patients and their family members. Relevance to clinical practice: Nurses seek to understand nurses’ experiences of providing care for people with dementia may help them to utilize positive care experiences to practice. Those nurses should consider to some experiences that may be factors to achieve and hinder the optimal care.