Abstract
A theory-guided non-experimental, descriptive, correlational design was used to evaluateentry and passage variables related to nursing home adjustment for individuals with dementia. Elders with dementia are unable to speak for themselves, therefore proxy responses of Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) provided the data for completion of the Nursing Home Adjustment Scale (Lee et al., 2015). Guided by the Meleis’ Theory of Transitions, entry level factors of age, previous residence, gender and choice, and passage variables including length of stay, extent of dementia, functional abilities, and depression were entered into a regression equation as predictors of nursing home adjustment. Information about extent of dementia, functional abilities and depression was derived from the Minimum Data Set maintained for all residents per Medicare and Medicaid guidelines. Descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated using IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 26.0 software. Results indicated an inverse relationship between nursing home adjustment and depression. There was no support for relationships among other variables. CNA proxy responses were found to be reliable and were significantly correlated with nursing responses on the same measure. This study supports the use of CNA proxy responses as a method to evaluate the experience of individuals with dementia.