With the older population growing, there is likely to be an increase in the numbers of people with dementia on acute hospital wards. This article presents some of the findings from a Masters study (Ballard 2005) that explored the knowledge, understanding and implications for care of adult nurses working with patients who present with dementia in general hospital wards. Kitwood's 'malignant social psychology' and 'person-centred approach' were used as the theoretical framework to develop a questionnaire distributed to nurses. The findings about nurses' knowledge and understanding of person-centred dementia care and gaps in this area are discussed, and implications for future education and training of nurses presented.