Identifying the factors that promote continuity of care for people with dementia admitted to hospital in an emergency (HS1)

Project Summary:

The quality of hospital care for people with dementia is widely recognised to be variable.

This is because the tacit knowledge of relatives of people with dementia is not routinely elicited or used by hospital staff to inform in-patient care, and because hospital staff lack awareness of how to support people with this condition. As a result, the health of someone with dementia can decline rather than improve on admission to hospital.

Available evidence suggests that patient and family involvement in staff handovers can improve health outcomes for people with dementia admitted to hospital, but in general we understand little about how to effectively promote continuity of care during the stressful time of hospital admission.

The aim of this study is to identify what strategies hospital staff can use to promote continuity of care as experienced by people with dementia admitted to hospital in an emergency and their family carers. Qualitative interviews, observations, and patient records will be used to explore experiences and perceptions of relational, informational and management continuity, and to identify the strategies associated with experienced continuity. People with dementia, their family carers and health care professionals will be closely involved in the design and execution of the study.

Project Details:

The Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southampton working in partnership with University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, is offering a Clinical Academic Doctoral Fellowship for a qualified nurse.

The successful candidate will spend two days per week as a Band 5 Registered Nurse in University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust and 3 days per week working on the PhD research study. You will join a thriving and expanding group of Clinical Academic Doctoral Fellows based at the Clinical Academic Facility, Southampton General Hospital for the academic component of the Fellowship.

The Fellowship is for 4 years will begin in September 2013. You will be supported by an annual £14,000 stipend and an additional sum of £800 to support additional training and development costs during the Fellowship.

This is an exciting opportunity and will enable aspiring individuals to combine clinical practice with a research role, working across the University and University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. The successful candidate will work with their nominated clinical mentor and a Faculty of Health Sciences academic mentor in a tri-partite arrangement to develop their clinical academic role in both practice and University settings.

It is essential that you have successfully achieved a 2:1 or a Postgraduate Diploma distinction in nursing. It would be desirable if you have achieved a 1st class honours degree.

Further information can be found in our FAQ document by clicking "Apply Online" below.

Interviews will be held in Southampton on 21st June 2013.