Background: Dementia is an incurable disease that affects the cognitive functions of the patient. The reduced functions make it difficult for the patients with dementia to express their pain, which leads to untreated pain and suffering. The nurse’s responsibilities, competencies and use of assessment instruments are resources in assessing pain in this patient group.

Aim: The aim of the thesis was to describe the nurse's experiences of assessing pain in patients with dementia.

Method: A literature review was chosen as the method to provide answers with regards to the aim of the study. Searches were performed in the CINAHL and PubMed databases. After careful review according to University West review templates, nine qualitative and four quantitative scientific articles were included in the analysis.

Results: The results showed that there were both aggravating and facilitating factors for the nurse’s success in identifying pain. The identified aggravating factors were communication deficiencies, knowledge deficiencies and deficiencies in the working environment. By adopting a holistic view, involving close relatives, using assessment instruments, nurses improved their ability to identify pain. 

Conclusion: Communication difficulties, lack of knowledge and deficiencies in the working environment make it more difficult for the nurse to identify pain. The nurse's observation of the patients’ symptoms, knowledge of the patient, contact with relatives, collaboration and the use of assessment instruments facilitate pain assessment in patients with dementia. There is a need for further education on the topic of the pain condition and communication technologies developed for patients with dementia disease, as well as adequate time and a well-developed cooperation environment among the nurses to improve the success of identifying pain in this group.