Dementia-Specific Nursing Care Competencies for Nursing Education and Long-Term Care Practice

Abstract

Enhanced dementia-specific nursing care is needed to incorporate the rapid changes in dementia science for an expanding population of persons living with dementia (PLWD) in long-term care. Dementia-specific nursing care competencies should be incorporated into current curricula for undergraduate and graduate nursing programs as well as nurse professional practice. This article proposes a set of dementia nursing care competencies that reflect current scientific findings on neurodegenerative dementia diseases, communication and shared decision-making, supportive care management for symptoms of distress and deficits in activities of daily living, risk assessments for adverse outcomes, palliative care and advance directives, and caregiver issues.

Keywords: Care management; Caregiver; Neurodegenerative dementia disease; Nursing competency.