Scoping the Role of the Dementia Nurse Specialist in Acute Care

Abstract

This report explores evidence to identify the potential benefits and to inform the implementation of dementia specialist nursing roles to support people with dementia during admission to hospital. It shows a business case exists for developing a dementia specialist nurse role in the United Kingdom. The evidence suggests that a properly trained and educated dementia specialist nurse, undertaking a clearly defined role, and working directly with people with dementia and their carers for a significant proportion of the time, could benefit people with dementia in hospitals. If these benefits addressed only a fraction of the excess stays experienced by people with dementia, a significant return on investment could be obtained. A reduction in hospital stay by one day on average could achieve an annual return on investment of 37%, with a net saving of nearly £11,000,000 nationally.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Peter Griffiths: orcid.org/0000-0003-2439-2857

ORCID for Jackie Bridges: orcid.org/0000-0001-6776-736X

ORCID for Ruth Bartlett: orcid.org/0000-0002-3412-2300

ORCID for Katherine J. Hunt: orcid.org/0000-0002-6173-7319

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