[The nursing experience of a primary caregiver providing care to a patient with moderate mental retardation].

This case report shares the researcher's experience and observations with regard to a primary caregiver responsible to provide nursing care to a patient suffering from moderate mental retardation during the time period October 1st, 2003 to July 31st, 2004. The writer collected subjective and objective information using observation, face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews and scales, including the Caregiver Burden Scale and Taiwanese Depression Questionnaire. A holistic nursing assessment established that the primary nursing problem faced was caregiver anxiety. Through continuous caring and empathetic listening, the researcher encouraged the caregiver to describe her perceptions. Nursing intervention included providing information regarding professional patient care and encouraging support of the caregiver from the patient's family. Results demonstrated that, by the end of this study, the primary caregiver was better able to execute her duties and that her anxiety had been significantly relieved.