Abstract Background Person-centred care is the preferred model for caring for people with dementia. Knowledge of the level of person-centred care is essential for improving the quality of care for patients with dementia. The person-centred care of older people with cognitive impairment in acute care (POPAC) scale is a tool to determine the level of person-centred care. This study aimed to translate and validate the Dutch POPAC scale and evaluate its psychometric properties to enable international comparison of data and outcomes. Methods After double-blinded forward and backward translations, a total of 159 nurses recruited from six hospitals ( n =114) and via social media ( n =45) completed the POPAC scale. By performing confirmatory factor analysis, construct validity was tested. Cronbach’s alpha scale was utilized to establish internal consistency. Results The confirmatory factor analysis showed that the comparative fit index (0.89) was slightly lower than 0.9. The root mean square error of approximation (0.075, p =0.012, CI 0.057–0.092) and the standardized root mean square residual (0.063) were acceptable, with values less than 0.08. The findings revealed a three-dimensional structure. The factor loadings (0.69–0.77) indicated the items to be strongly associated with their respective factors. The results also indicated that deleting Item 5 improved the Cronbach’s alpha of the instrument as well as of the subscale ‘using cognitive assessments and care interventions’. Instead of deleting this item, we suggest rephrasing it into a positively worded item. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the Dutch POPAC scale is sufficiently valid and reliable and can be utilized for assessing person-centred care in acute care hospitals. The study enables nurses to interpret and compare person-centred care levels in wards and hospital levels nationally and internationally. The results form an important basis for improving the quality of care and nurse-sensitive outcomes, such as preventing complications and hospital stay ...