Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an insidious and progressive neurodegenerative disorder leading to impairments in multiple cognitive domains which affects the patients' functional abilities and all aspects of their relational, social, and occupational life (Rentz, 2008). Due to the intense cognitive decline the individual experiences with this disease, nursing care is at the cold face and truly challenged. Care plans provide the healthcare team with a virtual map from which to view the broad panorama of needs required in the care management of AD (Innes, 2003). The mapping of an individual's care needs ensure the provision of safe and supported holistic patient centred care. This paper coincides with the care plan for Bill and Sylvia. Bill has AD and due to Sylvia's own health decline she can no longer provide adequate care for Bill, so he has been admitted to residential care. The scope of this paper will cover a description of AD, it's prevalence and what is means to the provision of health care in Australia, the difficulties associated with diagnosis will be highlighted, the approach taken in the development of Bill's care plan and the nursing care activities which were identified will be analysed, and evaluating the success of the cares provided will be addressed. Dementia is a term used to describe various disorders of the brain that usually result in progressive and severe memory loss. AD is the most common type of dementia and accounts for more than 50% of dementia cases. AD is a clinical diagnosis which is confirmed by brain autopsy after death. What causes AD is still not fully understood although research indicates that the collapse of the cholinergic system is implicated and in particular the regulation of acetylcholine in the brain, an important chemical for memory (Ganzer, 2007). As there is no apparent single cause, it is better regarded as a syndrome for which a number of possible risk factors have been proposed. These include genetic factors, ethnicity, education and intelligence levels, lifestyle and environmental factors (Black, LoGiudice, Ames, Barber & Smith, 2001, Grodstein, 2007). Symptoms may include severe memory impairment, disorientation to time and place and person, communication difficulties, loss of comprehension, alterations in mood, behaviour and personality, wandering, hallucinations and delusions. As the disease progresses, people become unaware of their condition although they may still experience distress. They find it increasingly difficult and then impossible to perform even the simplest of everyday tasks, including washing, dressing and eating without supervision. Most eventually require 24 hour care. The disease may go on for several years, typically five to ten. Currently 1.44% of the Australian population have dementia and the estimated expenditure is 1.4 billion dollars annually (Access Economics, 2005, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), 2007). It is projected that as the Australian population ages the number of people with dementia will rise from 200, 000 to 730,000 by 2050 (The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, 2005). With this estimated increased prevalence of the disease so too will be the growth in cost to the nation. In terms of health care provision this forecast highlights the importance of ongoing research in dementia. Research not only creates the potential to cultivate disease modifying drugs and identifies the causes and risk factors, but also develops best practice guidelines in the provision of dementia care. diagnose. Due to the complex nature of dementia and the large number of diseases that cause Dementia, diagnosis can be a difficult, slow and complicated task. For example, multiple diseases that cause dementia can co-exist and non-dementia conditions can occur concurrently with dementia. It is imperative when investigating the potential diagnosis of dementia to identify or eliminate other conditions that show similar symptoms and differentiate which disease(s) is (are) causing dementia (Black et al., 2001). Differential diagnosis includes intellectual disability, other cognitive disorders such as delirium(febrile related to infection), disorders due to general medical conditions (hypothyroidism), disorders brought about by the use of substances (polypharmacy) or exposure to toxins (heavy metal poisoning) and psychiatric disorders (depress