80 An Exploration of What Stakeholders Reveal About the Behaviours and Personality of Registered Nurses Working in Older People’s Acute Care Settings and the Potential Influence on Nursing Care
Abstract Background Concern around poor standards of nursing care for older people in hospital has been explored in relation to workload and operational pressures. What is less evident from existing literature is an explanation as to why nurses behave differently under the same pressures within the same concrete situations. Notions of personality and associated behaviours as possible influencers on nursing care delivery are variables that required consideration. Aim To critically explore the behaviours of registered nursing staff working in older people's acute care settings from the perspectives gathered from key stakeholders, and to identify whether there are any distinguishing personality traits that influence effective care delivery for older people. Methods A constructivist grounded theory methodology was used. Semi structured interviews were conducted to gather data from 12 stakeholder participants. Results Through the analysis of data gathered from stakeholders a rubric describing specific behaviours with associated traits emerged leading to the identification of two major types of nursing staff. One group of nurses who work with older people are perceived to have no real desire to do so and in turn their care behaviours are perceived as ‘cold’ and task based. The second group of nurses are perceived as having a true commitment to older people’s wellbeing and their behaviours lead to the delivery of care that is perceived as being highly skilled and compassionate. The proposed theoretical framework that was constructed from this data analysis identifies four key personality traits related to nursing behaviours: conscientiousness, sociability, integrity and coping under a core category heading of ‘the authentic self’. Whilst the authentic self is identified as being the direct influencer on how care is delivered which is defined as the consequence, the influence of context is also taken into account. Conclusions This research offers insights into the meaning of four key traits and the behavioral facets comprising them, the associated behaviors that are displayed and what effect these have on nursing care delivery. Implications for healthcare practice include the potential for further research that can inform the development of educational and recruitment strategies for older people’s nurses which will have a positive impact on the care of the older patient in hospital.