身体合併症で入院した認知症高齢者への一般病院におけるケアのプロセス

Abstract

Along with an increasing number of elderly people with dementia, many of them enter general hospitals due to physical complications. In this study, we interviewed 11 nurses who work at a general hospital ward to clarify and examine the process of care provided for elderly people with dementia who were hospitalized due to physical complications. As a result of our analysis of the interviews, we identified a “process leading to efforts to improve nursing”. This process was comprised of the following five categories : [composure], [experience and sense of care], [guess], [catering to the needs of patients], [awareness], and [efforts to improve nursing]. We observed that nurses with [composure] and [experience and sense of care] were able to [guess] the feelings of patients with dementia and [cater to the needs of patients]. The [awareness] of receiving and interpreting patients’ verbal and nonverbal messages acquired while [catering to the needs of patients] led to [efforts to improve nursing], and if it caused favorable changes to patients with dementia, it led to further [awareness] and [composure]. Thus, the results indicated the importance of communication based on [awareness] for the care provided at general hospitals to elderly people with dementia who were hospitalized due to physical complications.