Nursing Home Staff perspectives on illness and hospitalization of persons with dementia

Background: Hospitalization can have significant consequences for persons living with dementia. Thus, careful considerations and decisions must be given to hospitalization of persons with dementia living in nursing homes. Thus, this study aimed to explore the perspectives of nursing home staff on illness and hospitalization of persons living with dementia. Methods: This is a qualitative, semi-structured face-to-face interview study of seven staff members from two nursing homes in Denmark. Results: During analysis, three themes were derived: 1) Detecting illness, 2) Factors influencing the decision to take action, and 3) Structural barriers at the nursing homes. Conclusion: Nursing home staff generally prefer to treat persons living with dementia within the nursing home. Our findings suggest that alignment of expectations through advanced care planning, ensuring supervision, and implementing a structured checklist for systematically monitoring behavioral and activity changes- along with additional basic diagnostic tools- can help guide medical and palliative care, potentially reducing unnecessary hospitalizations.