New pharmacological treatments for Alzheimer's disease: implications for dementia care nursing

This paper addresses developments regarding new pharmacological treatments for people with Alzheimer's disease such as Donepezil and Rivastigmine. Fol lowing a brief discussion of the experience of people in the early stages o f Alzheimer's disease, the pharmacology associated with these new treatment s is outlined. The implications of these treatments for nurses working with this client-group are fully discussed within the context of assessment, tr eatment and cessation. It is argued that nurses have an important contribut ion in the management of these treatments and recommends that descriptive a nd evaluative research should be undertaken relating to this new specialist area of nursing care.