Nurses' Aides

Abstract: Using data from focus groups and individual interviews with family caregivers who had a spouse or a parent with Alzheimer's disease, we examined their reports of interactions with staff in formal care settings Families most often discussed nurses' aides; they emphasized their desire for an ongoing relationship with staff members; and, they interpreted staff behaviors in terms of high-quality care that was based on the social and emotional care given to their resident as much as on the technical tasks involved in caring for them These results point to the families' desire for emotionally sensitive care and not just for technically competent performance of tasks

Abstract: Background: In workplace health promotion, all potential resources needs to be taken into consideration, not only factors relating to the absence of injury and the physical health of the workers, but also psychological aspects. A dynamic balance between the resources of the individual employees and the demands of work is an important prerequisite. In the home care services, there is a noticeable trend towards increased psychosocial strain on employees at work. There are a high frequency of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, and a low prevalence of sustainable work ability. The aim of this research was to identify factors promoting work ability and self-efficacy in care aides and assistant nurses within home care services. Methods: This study is based on cross-sectional data collected in a municipality in northern Sweden. Care aides (n = 58) and assistant nurses (n = 79) replied to a self-administered questionnaire (response rate 46%). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed to assess the influence of several independent variables on selfefficacy (model 1) and work ability (model 2) for care aides and assistant nurses separately. Results: Perceptions of personal safety, self-efficacy and musculoskeletal wellbeing contributed to work ability for assistant nurses (R 2 adj of 0.36, p < 0.001), while for care aides, the safety climate, seniority and age contributed to work ability (R 2 adj of 0.29, p = 0.001). Self-efficacy was associated with the safety climate and the physical demands of the job in both professions (R 2 adj of 0.24, p = 0.003 for care aides), and also by sex and age for the assistant nurses (R 2 adj of 0.31, p < 0.001). Conclusions: The intermediate factors contributed differently to work ability in the two professions. Self-efficacy, personal safety and musculoskeletal wellbeing were important for the assistant nurses, while the work ability of the care aides was associated with the safety climate, but also with the non-changeable factors age and seniority. All these factors are important to acknowledge in practice and in further research. Proactive workplace interventions need to focus on potentially modifiable factors such as self-efficacy, safety climate, physical job demands and musculoskeletal wellbeing.

Abstract: Judging patients for poor life choices is neither right nor professional.

Abstract: Nursing staff are exposed to stressful work load which in turn is associated with poor physical and psychological health, sickness absence and job exit. The effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model is a validated approach to measure chronic psychosocial work stress by identifying nonreciprocity between occupational efforts spent and rewards received, and has been found to predict poor health. The aim of this cross-sectional study (n = 367 nurses and nurses aides) was first to test the psychometric properties of the Danish questionnaire measuring ERI, and secondly to analyse whether psychosocial work stress is associated with six indicators of poor self-rated health. Results derived from confirmatory factor analysis indicate satisfying psychometric properties. Elevated risks of poor self-rated health (odds ratios varying from 1.92 to 4.76) are observed in nursing staff characterized by high effort in combination with low reward. Effects are enhanced in those respondents who additionally exhibit a high level of work-related overcommitment. In conclusion, despite methodological limitations, this study contributes to the validation of the ERI questionnaire in Danish language. Furthermore, by documenting associations with poor self-rated health, it supports efforts of theory-guided prevention of work stress in health care professions.