Understanding nursing home worker conceptualizations about good care

Abstract

This study explored how direct care workers in nursing homes conceptualize good care and how their conceptualizations are influenced by external factors surrounding their work environment and the relational dynamics between them and residents. Study participants were drawn from a local service employees' union, and in-depth interviews were conducted. Data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach, and the results revealed that direct care workers equated good care, such as resident cleanliness, comfort, and happiness as a desirable outcome of care activities. Good care also meant affectionate, respectful, and patient attitudes of direct care workers toward residents in care delivery processes. Nursing home workers internalized the perspectives of residents and other professionals about what constitutes good care, and then drew their own conclusions about how to balance, combine, and compromise those diverse demands. It is important to communicate accurate and consistent messages about what comprises good nursing home care to nursing home workers and build a working environment where workers' conceptualizations about good care can be executed without organizational barriers.