A Hospital Ward Environment that Ensures Quality of Life for Dementia Patients

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This study investigated the conditions that lead to the creation of a hospital ward environment that promotes both independence and safety for dementia patients. The authors interviewed interviewing nursing directors and nursing staff in ward environments that were characterized as maximizing the potential of dementia patients. Observational studies were also conducted on dementia patients in geriatric hospitals not actively committed to the creation of a quality-of-life ward environment. The survey indicated that ;1. Nursing directors who were actively engaged in providing for the safety and comfort of dementia patients tended to make relevant professional information available to the staff and helped to create working conditions that enabled the nursing staff to work more autonomously. As a result, the entire hospital organization was able to focus on providing patient care, thus succeeding in the creation of a ward environment with high-quality patient care. In such ward environment … More s, there were no restrictions on visiting hours. The nursing staff was encouraged to make suggestions and was actively engaged in improving patient care. In addition, staff turnover was low under such conditions.2. In cases where the ward environment was not set up to handle dementia patients, these patients were often isolated from other patients in the room and spent much of their day in the immediate vicinity of their beds. Although these patients showed interest in objects within their reach, as well as interest in various types of sounds, they were not able to take full advantage of these stimuli.Thus, a high quality ward environment was found to be one in which the autonomy of dementia patients and their family is preserved, and in which the active participation of the nursing staff is encouraged. The results of this survey suggest that the success or failure of being able to create a high-quality-of-life ward environment is very much dependent on the skills and ability of the nursing director. Less