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Resident care needs and work stressors in special care units versus non‐specialized long‐term care units
Author(s) -
Pekkarinen Laura,
Sinervo Timo,
Elovainio Marko,
Noro Anja,
FinneSoveri Harriet,
Leskinen Esko
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
research in nursing and health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1098-240X
pISSN - 0160-6891
DOI - 10.1002/nur.20157
Subject(s) - stressor , medicine , long term care , dementia , gerontology , minimum data set , affect (linguistics) , nursing , psychiatry , psychology , nursing homes , disease , pathology , communication
Differences in how elderly residents' care needs affect staff's experiences of work stressors between special care units (SCUs) for dementia and psychiatric residents and non‐SCUs were investigated. The data were drawn from 390 staff members in 38 long‐term care SCUs, and 587 staff in 53 non‐SCUs in Finland. Residents' care needs were based on the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) system measured by the Minimum Data Set 2.0. Work stressors (time–pressure and role‐conflicts) were assessed with a staff survey questionnaire. Multiple‐group regression analysis showed that residents' dependency in activities of daily living (ADL) was related to increased work stressors only in SCUs. A high proportion of behavioral problems was related to fewer work stressors for SCU staff, but more for non‐SCU staff. Work stressors may be reduced by specializing, so that residents with similar care needs are placed together and care is focused. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Res Nurs Health 29: 465–476, 2006