Behavioral problems in elders with dementia have been the major challenge to health care providers, however, little is known about this issue among nurses employed in Taiwan. The study investigated nurses perceptions of dementia care by implementing Behavioral Problems of the Dementia Elderly Questionnaire, which was designed based on literature review and expert panel discussions in nineteen nationwide workshops. A purposive sample of 589 respondents was obtained. RESULT. While the majority of the nurses (75.23%) reported agitation as the most common behavioral problem, more than half nurses (62.28%) suggested that physical attack was the major problem need to be worried and taken care, and about 40.18% nurses indicated that learning about managements of physical attach was the first priority. In further analyses using logistic regression for identification of factors related to the top behavioral problems, working facility significantly contributed to agitation and anger, and professionals significantly contributed to sleep disturbance. In relation to top priority issues needed to be taken care, the significant contributor for agitation was working facility, significant contributors for sleep disturbance, included census region and working facility. There were four significant contributors, age, census region, working facility, and educational level for self-abuse. Among the top interested topics for continued education, the significant contributor for physical attack was census region. CONCLUSION. The variation in prevalence of behavioral problems in different facilities suggested that individualized training program designed to solve problems and meet trainees learning needs is vital to advance the knowledge and skills of nurses for providing quality of care to elderly with dementia in Taiwan.
Session #1219 - Poster Session I
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)