Objective: Investigate how nurses in rural hospitals care for people with dementia. Design: A case study research design. Setting: Three rural hospitals in one region of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Subjects: A purposive sample of 21 nurses who were employed at the study sites. Main outcome measure Description of how nurses working in rural hospitals care for people with dementia. Results: Nurses drew upon their community connectedness to creatively use limited resources to provide person-centred care for people with dementia. The physical environment of the hospital influenced rural nurses’ practice, with chemical and physical restraint occasionally used when nurses’ were concerned about workload and safety. Conclusion: Rural nurses used their community connectedness to help them provide person-centred care for people with dementia, but at times, this care was limited by overriding concerns about risk management and patient safety.