Background: The use of a practice development approach to support Admiral Nurses in caring for persons with dementia at end of life and their families.

Aim: This article is an exploration and reflection on how supporting the learning of specialist nurses in dementia care can ensure their development is person-centred, innovative and valuable.

Conclusions: A practice development approach towards learning and development is available to Admiral Nurses and enables the development of a supportive learning culture. As a result, the nurses are more able to provide families with specialist support when it is needed.

Implications for practice:

• A collaborative approach to practice development with shared values and goals is essential to achieving person-centred learning
• Practice development must be supported by a sustainable model and skilled facilitation
• End-of-life care can be complex and emotive so nurses need appropriate support to enable them to be more reflective in and on practice

This article by Caroline Scates and Karen Harrison Dening is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 3.0 License.