Nurse's Attitude Towards Dementia Patient Information 2022

Running head: NURSE’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS DEMENTIA PATIENT
NURSE’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS DEMENTIA PATIENT
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NURSE’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS DEMENTIA PATIENT1
Introduction:
Dementia is a term that is utilized to explain a brain disease which causes a long -term
decrease in the ability of an individual’s thinking and remembering gradually and it affects
the individual’s daily activities and functioning. Some common symptoms of dementia
include problems in the linguistics of the person, decrease in their motivation, a tendency to
forget, emotional problems, lack in their consciousness, anxiety and in certain rare cases
agitation. Dementia are of different types and amongst all of those types, the most common
type is known as the Alzheimer’s Disease that is known to contribute 70 percent of the cases
of dementia (Verbeek et al. 2012). In accordance to the World Health Organization (2012),
this disorder is known to affect around 36 million people worldwide. In the year 2013, around
1.7 million people died because of dementia and it has also been observed that this disease is
known to mostly affect the aged people (Dupuis et al. 2012). According to studies, it has
been observed that women tend to be more affected by this disease of dementia rather than
men. Dementia patients are seen to suffer from several kinds of behavioral problems; thus,
there are multiple rehabilitation processes that helps the dementia patients to enhance their
self- esteem and help them to do their daily living activities which are also known as the
ADLs, without even from the support of from their Carers.
Dementia and Effects:
The disease of Dementia is caused due to some disorders in brain and this is the reason
why proper nutrition is extremely necessary for the patients who are living with dementia.
The rationale behind the provision of nutritious and sustainable food diet for a patient with
dementia is directly related from the result that poor nutrition can potentially increase the
behavioral symptoms and hence can cause weight loss (Wortmann 2012). There are studies
that have shown that a proper nutritious diet and along with such a diet, a proper physical

NURSE’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS DEMENTIA PATIENT2
exercise can help people who are living with dementia to improve their life’s quality through
enhancement of their self- esteem (Cahill, O’Shea and Pierce 2012). Moreover, regular
check- ups have revealed that dementia patients have a poor appetite; this poor appetite,
disabilities in sensory areas and disability in physical activities makes it difficult for dementia
patients to eat or drink. In addition to these, there ae several other issues and physical
problems that makes it difficult for them to drink or eat (Murphy et al. 2014). One such issue
is depression; depression is a common issue found in patients living with dementia; thus, the
patient might be depressed which is mostly because of the low social contact and loss of
autonomy in their life. It robs off their desire to eat or drink (Passalacqua and Harwood
2012). Communication is another such issue that makes the whole eating and drinking routine
of the patient a bit more difficult and does not allow them to have a nutritious diet. A person
with dementia often cannot communicate about their desire of having food; it might be
because of their forgetfulness or other reason and so having nutrition becomes a challenge for
such patients. Moreover, sometimes it is seen that a change in the dosage of their medication
causes a change in their appetite (Gandesha et al. 2012). It has also been noticed that most of
the patients living with dementia suffer from constipation since constipation is a common
issue in the geriatric patients and dementia, as mentioned before generally occurs in aged
people. There are other observations that show pain, low physical activity and tiredness can
also be the potential factors in a dementia patient for causing irregularity and poor diet
(Alzheimers.org.uk 2016). The fundamental symptom of dementia is forgetfulness and it
directly promotes the poor appetite and malnutrition in the patient (Ryan et al. 2012). This is
the reason the Carers and the nurses have to be so careful and also responsible for monitoring
the condition of a patient living with dementia and their diet course (Sten et al. 2012).
Basically, nurses and Carers have to encourage such patients to eat and increase their appetite
and diets. There are multiple ways to dealing with such patients who have challenges in

NURSE’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS DEMENTIA PATIENT3
eating and drinking in their behavior through proper attitude of the nurses and food care
within acute hospitals.
Care Required for Dementia:
Due to cognitive and sensory impairments, patients with dementia have a lot of trouble
in being able to complete their activities that they do on even on a daily basis. In acute
hospitals, the care taken for dementia is considered to be a constant challenge for the health
care professionals who have been assigned the task of treating the patient’s fundamental
acute illness (Bartlett 2012). The second condition of these patients are also a challenge, in
fact a greater one than the first, since it is regarding the aspects of the patient’s health care
and support (Sadowsky and Galvin 2012). The health care businesses are having wider
community of practice and it has added to the challenge of providing the dementia patient the
opportunity to eat for maintaining their health through nutritionally balanced diet within the
premises of an Acute Hospital. As per the food services for dementia patients, there are
several concerns that have been pointed in research studies within the premises of these acute
hospitals (Easterling and Robbins 2008). These concerns revolve around the financial
constraints regarding the budgets, the commitment of the hospital to change and also the
culture that is associated to the ward side and the services provided by the caterers inside the
hospitals (Kelly et al. 2012). If the first element mentioned before is considered as the
blocker, then studies have shown that 78 percent of the inactive Catering Managers in the
premises of NHS refuse any changes that affects their daily routine, which is why the acute
hospitals have to take necessary actions in order to deal with their food associated issues for
the patients living with dementia by undertaking adequate techniques (World Health
Organization 2012). There are several mealtime challenges that occur when health care
professionals have to work with patients suffering from dementia, especially those who are
residents in the hospital or admitted for a long- term care. These challenges are their refusal