Our new Admiral Nurse module

When I qualified as a nurse over 25 years ago, I was told that a career in dementia care nursing would limit my development. At the time, this area of nursing was seen as a backwater and given little value. Over the last 25 years, I have seen how far this was from the truth. Dementia nursing has developed a growing importance in our society and many nurses have chosen to work in this fulfilling and vital area of health and social care. Admiral Nurses, specialist dementia nurses, play their part in changing the lives of families and people with dementia. As a charity, we continue to move practice forward and remain ever passionate and positive about the difference that specialist dementia nursing makes.

That is why the launch of this open access module is a milestone for us at Dementia UK. We want to encourage people into dementia care nursing and ultimately to consider a career in Admiral Nursing. What we have put together here is designed to offer a taster of the key components of the role of the Admiral Nurse and looks at the ways we can help families facing dementia. I hope that when you engage in the module, it gives you an insight into the needs that families face; the evidenced-based approach that Admiral Nurses take; and the person-centred models we use.

With over 800,000 people living with dementia in the UK and families struggling more than ever to cope, never has the need for specialist, skilled nursing been more pronounced.

Of course, we will not be stopping here; we intend to build our Admiral Nursing Academy this year. It matters to us that people with dementia and their families get the specialist nursing support they need. In this International Year of the Nurse, we are determined to enhance the value of dementia nursing as a vital, skilled and positive career option for any nurse.