HELPING TO MAKE QA DEMENTIA FRIENDLY

How dementia specialist nurses are helping patients and their families

When hospital administrator Lynda Golding looked for advice on supporting her elderly mum with dementia – she reached out to Queen Alexandra Hospital’s Admiral Nurse and says she can’t thank her enough.

Lynda’s mum Joan was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2022 and required specialist care whilst she was in hospital, as well as ongoing care and support at home.

Due to her work at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, Lynda was able to shadow the hospital’s Admiral Nurse Sarah Munday to find out more about her mum’s condition and how she could care for her.

Admiral Nurses are specialist Dementia Nurses who are trained, supported and developed by the charity Dementia UK. They provide specialist support for patients experiencing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, as well as for their families and caregivers.

Sarah Munday was appointed in February 2022 as the Trust’s very first Admiral Nurse and her role is to help support patients and their families, provide education to staff and boost dementia awareness across the hospital.

With Sarah’s advice and expertise, Lynda was able to help in the smaller aspects of her mum’s care such as assisting her to drink and moistening her mouth. This enabled Lynda to remain a part of her mum’s care as she learnt how to deal emotionally and physically with the condition.

Lynda said: “Sarah was an absolute inspiration to me. Thanks to her understanding approach, not only to verbally advise me but to demonstrate things to me, she gave me the confidence to improve my relationship with my mum, Joan.”

Former dinner lady Joan, originally from Southampton, loved to knit for the community and regularly donated items to the neonatal unit at her local hospital, as well as for the church fair. She was mum to only child Lynda and ‘surrogate nan’ to lots of local children.

She was diagnosed with postural hypertension after a fall in 2021 and spent time in a care home. She was later admitted to hospital after displaying challenging behaviour and the care home could no longer meet her needs. It was whilst in hospital she was diagnosed with Vascular and Lewy body Dementia.

Lynda’s mother passed away in December 2022 and although at the time of this interview, it was still a very recent experience, Lynda was eager to share her story.

She said: “I had nowhere to turn at first and I am sure that there are many others in the same situation. When your loved one is in hospital and they have dementia it’s a scary and confusing time. Even though Mum’s journey was a rough and emotional one for us all, having Sarah helped me knowing I had someone to turn to.

“We should have more Admiral

Nurses like Sarah! Not only for our patients but for the families going through this in their personal lives. I cannot shout enough about how wonderful Sarah and her team are.”

Sarah, who recently won the ‘Inspirational Admiral Nurse and Role Model Award’ in the Admiral Nurses Award 2022, said: “Living with dementia can be a hard and lonely experience and an admission into hospital is an extra stress on top of this, not only for the patient, but for their loved ones as well.

“I hope my work as a specialist dementia nurse can help families confront these challenges with confidence.”

For more information on the work of Sarah Munday and her team, visit: www. porthosp.nhs.uk/departments/dementiaservices.htm