Effect of empathic nursing care and rehabilitation training on elderly patients with vascular dementia

Objective To analyze the effect of empathic nursing care and rehabilitation training on elderly patients with vascular dementia. Methods 200 elderly patients with vascular dementia treated at our hospital from March, 2016 to March, 2018 were selected, and divided into a study group and a control group. The study group were intervened by empathic nursing care, including scenario simulation and other forms of learning empathic nursing intervention, friendly communication with the patients, understanding the patients' situation, disease propaganda, and guiding the patients to train their daily life activity; and the control group were routinely cared, such as diet guidance, medication nursing care, and daily life care. The scores of quality of life scale and activity of daily living scale as well as the family members’ satisfaction to nursing intervention were compared. Results The score of QOL scale was (37.77±3.33) and the family members’ satisfaction to nursing intervention 87.00% in the study group, which were higher than those in the control group (both P<0.05). The score of ADL scale was (20.11±2.22) in the study group, which was lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion Empathic nursing care combined with rehabilitation training for elderly patients with vascular dementia can effectively improve their quality of life and daily living ability, and help build a harmonious nurse-patient relationship. Key words: Empathic nursing care; Rehabilitation training; Hospitalization; Elderly patients; Vascular dementia