title: Nursing home dementia care units. Providing a continuum of care rather than aging in place.
abstract: Experience from the first 24 months of a new Dementia Special Care Unit is presented with an emphasis on admission and discharge criteria, length of stay, and reasons for discharge. Maintaining residents with moderate functional abilities on a Special Care Unit is examined relative to relocation stress, aging in place, and staff needs. The benefits of providing a continuum of dementia care and the risk of potential harm of frequent intra-institutional moves are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Marquette University, College of Nursing, Milwaukee 53201-1881, USA.
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Kovach
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D003704:Dementia / Q000451:nursing*; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D005851:Geriatric Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011787:Quality of Health Care