Hospitalisation can have negative consequences for people with dementia, including complications and more extended stays. Nurses experience caring for people with dementia as challenging. This thesis aims to explore nursing care for people with dementia in Dutch hospitals, focusing on the role of nurses in person-centred care and shared decision-making from the perspectives of nurses and relatives of patients with dementia. Chapter 2 describes the results of a validation and psychometric evaluation of the Dutch version of the POPAC scale (the Person-centred care of Older People with dementia in Acute Care scale). This scale measures the person-centredness of care for older people with dementia in a hospital setting. Chapter 3 presents a study into nurses’ perceptions of caring for patients with dementia in Dutch hospitals. Chapter 4 presents a ‘mixed-method’ study focused on the experiences of informal caregivers of patients with dementia regarding patient care, interactions with nurses, the situation of caregivers and the hospital environment during their relative’s hospital admission.
Chapter 5 highlights an integrative review exploring nurses’ involvement in shared decision-making, the topics of SDM, and nurses’ roles. Chapter 6 describes an exploratory qualitative study into nurses’ perspectives on shared decision-making in daily care for hospitalised patients with dementia. Chapter 7 discusses this thesis in which the focus is nursing care for patients with dementia in Dutch hospitals. It appears that nurses often treat patients with dementia with respect and warmth. However, person-centred care is insufficiently applied, and nurses’ communication can be improved.