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To understand the current evidence base regarding holistic nursing assessments performed by registered nurses in residential aged care homes in Australia, and identify the gaps in knowledge and potential areas for future research.
A scoping review informed by JBI guidelines and the PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews.
The electronic databases Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, Scopus and ProQuest Central were searched, alongside citation chaining and manual journal searches. Limits of English language and publication after the year 2000 were applied. Studies were screened against pre-defined eligibility criteria. Data were extracted and analysed using descriptive statistics and a narrative synthesis.
A total of 3987 studies were identified, of which 28 were categorised as comprehensive or multimodal assessment programmes, standalone assessment tools or assessment infrastructure papers. Key outcomes described included staff factors and resident emergency department transfers or hospitalisations. The key feature of existing nursing assessments across studies was education, which was generally associated with improved staff knowledge, confidence and efficiency. Apart from this, there was large heterogeneity among assessment interventions with inconsistent effects. Few studies focused on residents with dementia or palliative care needs.
There is currently no standardised, systematic approach to the holistic assessment of residents by registered nurses in Australia. This gap in assessment is especially evident for residents with dementia or palliative care needs.
This research highlights the need to develop standardised holistic nursing assessments to bridge this gap in practice.
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