Early recoginition of dementia by nurses.
The early recognition of dementia has assumed an increasingly important place in primary care nursing. This paper reports a survey conducted in the context of a national programme of educational workshops on dementia which attracted almost one thousand participants. The subjects who answered the questionnaires included community mental health nurses (CMHNs), community nurses (CNs), and practice nurses (PNs). The results indicated that CMHNs were the most confident in their ability to recognise dementia and found it easier to provide appropriate support. However, it was also apparent that CNs in particular also had considerable contacts with some people with dementia. This highlighted the need for a team approach to dementia care in the community, with CMHNs taking the key co-ordinating role which previous studies had tended to allocate to the general practitioner.