Growth in the elderly population inevitably increases the number with dementia and heightens need for evidence-based nursing care. To guide nurse researchers in developing such evidence, we undertook to summarize the state of nursing science in dementia care and to reveal its areas of strength and weakness. The universe of relevant literature (N=58,000+) was identified from the Medline database for a 15-year period using the key term: dementia. Citations were narrowed in a stepwise process to only those that were written in English, fell within the domain of nursing, and represented a systematic approach to knowledge development; remaining abstracts (n=~2200) were entered into a bibliographic database and coded using an initial scheme representing the substantive and syntactical structure of nursing within the realm of dementia care. After 15% of the abstracts were coded, the schema was refined through a consensus process. On the substantive knowledge base, preliminary results indicate that: 1) most studies focused on the person with dementia, with fewer studies about caregivers; 2) few studies consider environmental factors other than care setting; 3) a large proportion of studies are concerned with physical and psychological functioning with much less emphasis on social functioning and quality of life; and 4) a very small number of studies examined safety issues and nursing diagnoses. On the syntactical structure of nursing, preliminary results indicate that: 1) the preponderance of studies are empirical and quantitative; 2) cross-sectional and survey designs are predominant; and 3) a wide array of methods have been used, but use of technologically-based approaches are rare. In future studies, we recommend greater emphasis on dyads, social and physical environs, interventions, safety, and a wider array of care settings; on qualitative studies to improve understanding of key phenomena; and on testing theories and models as a guide to intervention.
Session #1219 - Poster Session I
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)