Pre-registration nursing dementia care resource
This workbook alongside your lectures and seminars over 3 years follows and meets guidance from Health Education England who require all newly qualified nurses and other NHS staff to achieve foundation level dementia training. It is designed to give you that level and so enable you to identify the early symptoms of dementia, know how to interact with those with dementia and other confusional states, understand the needs of clients and carers, and deliver safe, dignified, compassionate care. Caring for people with dementia and their families is central to nursing and this dementia care resource is designed to assist you to care for people with dementia skilfully, compassionately and knowledgeably, in a variety of settings. Worldwide there are growing numbers of people with dementia and these figures are predicted to rise considerably, due to an increase in the number of people living longer (Alzheimer’s Disease International 2010). In the United Kingdom, over 800,000 people live with dementia and the number is expected to double in the next 30 years (Department of Health [DH] 2010). One in four people in acute hospital settings have dementia (Alzheimer’s Society 2009); they may be in hospital for a range of clinical reasons, e.g. infections, falls or strokes. In addition, at least two-thirds of people in care homes have dementia (DH 2009) and many other people with dementia live at home, supported by community health and social care teams. This resource complements your university-based teaching by supporting you in learning about dementia care during practice learning, using reflective activities. It can be regarded as a sort of workbook directing you to a range of online and other learning resources to support your learning. We are grateful to our colleagues from the University of Bedfordshire who initially designed this workbook to ensure that you meet Skills for Health and Skills for Care (2011) Common core principles for supporting people with dementia.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/215562/dh_127587.pdf• We recognise that website addresses can change over time. If you find that any website address does not work, try searching the keywords or locate an alternative source to access the information you need. Dementia care is a developing field and you will find additional resources which you can use to support you in your learning. • Please also send in any useful sites you find or interesting books and films or any other material you come across so that we can update the workbook and add to it. Contact information; dwalsh@lincoln.ac.uk
