scholarly journals Registered nurses’ role experiences of caring for older stroke patients: a qualitative study

BMC Nursing ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Cheng ◽  
Jiong Tu ◽  
Xiaoyan Shen

Abstract Background With China’s population ageing rapidly, stroke is becoming one of the major public health problems. Nurses are indispensable for caring for older patients with acute and convalescent stroke, and their working experiences are directly linked to the quality of care provided. The study aims to investigate registered nurses’ experiences of caring for older stroke patients. Methods A qualitative descriptive design was adopted. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with 26 registered nurses about their lived experiences of caring for older stroke patients. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Results Two main themes were identified. First, the nurses identified an obvious gap between their ideal role in elderly care and their actual practice. The unsatisfactory reality was linked to the practical difficulties they encountered in their working environment. Second, the nurses expressed conflicting feelings about caring for older stroke patients, displaying a sense of accomplishment, indifference, annoyance, and sympathy. Caring for older stroke patients also affects nurses psychologically and physically. The nurses were clear about their own roles and tried their best to meet the elderly people’s needs, yet they lack time and knowledge about caring for older stroke patients. The factors influencing their working experiences extend beyond the personal domain and are linked to the wider working environment. Conclusions Sustaining the nursing workforce and improving their working experiences are essential to meet the care needs of older people. Understanding nurses’ lived working experiences is the first step. At the individual level, nurse mangers should promote empathy, relieve anxiety about aging, and improve the job satisfaction and morale of nurses. At the institutional level, policymakers should make efforts to improve the nursing clinical practice environment, increase the geriatric nursing education and training, achieve a proper skill mix of the health workforce, and overall attract, prepare and sustain nurses regarding caring for older people in a rapidly aging society.


Electronics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1925
Author(s):  
Soe Ye Yint Tun ◽  
Samaneh Madanian ◽  
Dave Parry

The elderly population is increasing globally, putting more pressure on aged care and public health systems. To address this issue and help increase the independence of older people, different digital technologies, including the Internet of things (IoT), can play an important role. Although there has been an increase in the number of studies in this field, most of them concentrate on IoT applications in elderly care from a technology perspective, with very little contribution from the clinical side. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate and identify the available IoT applications and their clinical utility for common diseases in elderly people. The results of this study could be useful for information technology professionals in developing and understanding the clinical requirements for IoT applications in healthcare for older people. Clinicians will also be informed about the clinical possibilities of using IoT devices in this area. Based on our findings, future research should focus on enhancing the clinical utility of current IoT applications in different settings and on developing new applications to support practitioners and older people.



Author(s):  
Goran Vukovič ◽  
Andrej Raspor ◽  
Nuša Erman ◽  
Bojan Macuh

The aim of the research is to present an interest of young people in giving help to the elderly through institutional and non-institutional care. We live in a time when global and consequently also Slovenian society became strongly aware of importance of the elderly as one of its consisting part. So, it has to be stressed that additional study programmes should be introduced which will bring education in various fields of social gerontology. This need was particularly emphasized during the COVID-19 epidemic, when all homes for the elderly faced the lack of trained staff. The aim of the paper is examination of a topic summarized in a questionnaire which was used to find out how well present and future students know problems of older people and their ways of life. We also asked them, whether they would be willing to dedicate their professional career to dealing with ageing population. We realised that young people know that work with the elderly is strenous. They are acquainted with problems of ageing and ways of older people living. Furthermore, they are aware that dealing with the elderly requires much benevolence, empathy and personal respect to other people. It is recommended that offer of education in a field of elderly care gets improved and upgraded. It would lead to a higher number of young people who would decide to enrol into educational programmes of social gerontology.



2020 ◽  
pp. 096973302095212
Author(s):  
Mary Ann Meeker ◽  
Dianne White

Background: Moving into the last phase of life comprises a developmental transition with specific needs and risks. Facilitating transitions is an important component of the work of nurses. When curative interventions are no longer helpful, nurses enact key roles in caring for patients and families. Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the experiences of registered nurses in acute care settings as they worked with patients and families to facilitate transition to comfort-focused care. Research design: Sampling, data collection, and data analysis were guided by constructivist grounded theory, chosen because of its strength in identifying and explicating social processes. Participants and context: A purposeful sample of 26 registered nurses working in acute care hospitals in one community in the northeastern United States participated in this study through semi-structured interviews. Ethical considerations: The study received approval from the university’s Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects. Participants provided informed consent. Findings: Nurses facilitated transition to comfort-focused care by enacting their moral commitments to patients and families. They focused on building relationships, honoring patient self-determination, and maintaining respect for personhood. In this context, they discerned a need for transition, opened a discussion, and used diverse strategies to facilitate achieving consensus on the part of patients, family members, and care providers. Regardless of how the process unfolded, nurses offered support throughout. Discussion: Achievement of consensus by all stakeholders is critical in the transition to comfort-focused care. This study deepens our understanding of how nurses as moral agents utilize specific strategies to assist progress toward consensus. It also offers an example of recognizing the moral agency of nurses through listening to their voices. Conclusion: Increased understanding of effective nursing strategies for facilitating transition to comfort-focused care is essential for developing needed evidence for excellent care and strengthening end-of-life nursing education.



2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-256
Author(s):  
Lina Van Aerschot ◽  
Jaana Parviainen

Abstract Twenty-five years ago, robotics guru Joseph Engelberger had a mission to motivate research teams all over the world to design the ‘Elderly Care Giver’, a multitasking personal robot assistant for everyday care needs in old age. In this article, we discuss how this vision of omnipotent care robots has influenced the design strategies of care robotics, the development of R&D initiatives and ethics research on use of care robots. Despite the expectations of robots revolutionizing care of older people, the role of robots in human care has remained marginal. The value of world trade in service robots, including care robots, is rather small. We argue that the implementation of robots in care is not primarily due to negative user attitudes or ethical problems, but to problems in R&D and manufacturing. The care robots currently available on the market are capable of simple, repetitive tasks or colloquial interaction. Thus far, also research on care robots is mostly conducted using imaginary scenarios or small-scale tests built up for research purposes. To develop useful and affordable robot solutions that are ethically, socially and ecologically sustainable, we suggest that robot initiatives should be evaluated within the framework of care ecosystems. This implies that attention has to be paid to the social, emotional and practical contexts in which care is given and received. Also, the political, economic and ecological realities of organizing care and producing technological commodities have to be acknowledged. It is time to openly discuss the drivers behind care robot initiatives to outline the bigger picture of organizing care under conditions of limited resources.



2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 1022-1049 ◽  
Author(s):  
BLANCHE LE BIHAN ◽  
ALIS SOPADZHIYAN

ABSTRACTDue to a significant increase in the complexity of the care demands of older people having multiple care needs, the necessity for integrated care is increasingly acknowledged. Proposing a qualitative approach based on a secondary literature analysis and an empirical survey, this paper explores the integration policy of health and social care for older people having complex needs in two European countries – France and Sweden – where various policy measures aiming at developing and delivering integrated care can be identified: at the national level, through the supportive measures of organisational, institutional and/or professional integration from central government, and at the local level, with the implementation of concrete integrative initiatives. Using a comparative qualitative approach, the authors investigate both of these levels, as well as the interplay between them. They show the importance of this double – local and national – approach of the issue of integration and highlight the continuous negotiation process which underlies the integration activities. Local integration initiatives are in fact constantly reshaped by top-down and bottom-up dynamics which appear to be strongly interconnected.



2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 2297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thais A. Baldissera ◽  
Luis M. Camarinha-Matos

Current demographic trends suggest that people are living longer, while the ageing process entails many necessities calling for care services tailored to the individual senior’s needs and life style. Personalized provision of care services usually involves a number of stakeholders, including relatives, friends, caregivers, professional assistance organizations, enterprises, and other support entities. Traditional Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based care and assistance services for the elderly have been mainly focused on the development of isolated and generic services, considering a single service provider, and excessively featuring a techno-centric approach. In contrast, advances on collaborative networks for elderly care suggest the integration of services from multiple providers, encouraging collaboration as a way to provide better personalized services. This approach requires a support system to manage the personalization process and allow ranking the {service, provider} pairs. In accordance with these requirements, an Elderly Care Ecosystem (ECE) framework and a Service Composition and Personalization Environment (SCoPE) are proposed. ECE provides the context for the personalization method which is based on the match between a taxonomy of care needs and the {service, provider} pairs, and the calculation of a service adherence index to identify suitable services and corresponding providers. To demonstrate the feasibility and applicability of SCoPE, a number of methods and algorithms are presented. Furthermore, an illustrative scenario is introduced in which {service, provider} pairs are ranked based on multidimensional assessment method and composition strategies are based on customer’s profile and requirements.



2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-112
Author(s):  
Takahiro Miyo

The percentage of the elderly is increasing on a worldwide scale, and Japan has the highest in the world. Under this difficult demographic situation, how well the elderly can live their later lives is a very important question. The purpose of this study was to find out how the elderly in good health can envisage their future lives in which they need care from others, which may help the elderly make their own care-plans. I conducted semi-structured interviews with one married elderly couple, who had had various experiences of caring for their old parents. While recalling their old days when they used to care for their parents, they were also asked to envisage their own future lives, in which they will need care from others. Based on qualitative descriptive analyses of their interview data, a highly individual care-plan emerged for each study participant. It was suggested that the ways their old parents lived in their later lives, as well as their experiences of caring for them, were strongly reflected in their own future care-plans. In order to envisage one’s realistic future in which he/she needs care from others, concrete experience of relevance may be necessary, which would make it possible to discuss frequently his/her own future life with family, friends, and medical providers.



Author(s):  
К. А. Галкин

В статье рассматриваются особенности заботы и ухода за пожилыми людьми в двух кейсах, которые представляют собой частные дома-интернаты для людей старше 60 лет. В частности, рассматривается создание заботы в условиях альтернативных возможностей, организация альтернативной заботы о пожилых людях в таких учреждениях и особенности формирования подобной заботы. В исследовании рассмотрены вопросы о соотношении формальных (институциональных) норм заботы о пожилых людях и неформальных правил, которые создаются сотрудниками частных домов-интернатов для пожилых людей, имеющих ограниченную профессионализацию в сфере работы с людьми старше 60 лет. Роль неформальных правил в рамках создания заботы о пожилых людях важна с точки зрения расширения агентности пожилых людей и их инклюзии в социум. В исследовании проанализировано сочетание особенностей формальных и неформальных правил по осуществлению заботы. На примере двух кейсов, полуструктурированных интервью с сотрудниками и администрацией, волонтёрами частных домовинтернатов ( n =30) автор показывает, что забота, которая формируется в частных домах-интернатах для пожилых людей, может достаточно сильно отличаться в зависимости от расположения учреждения, особенностей сотрудников и их профессионализации. Для более глобального пространства крупного города регионального значения забота о пожилых людях оказывается чётко регламентированной различными нормами и стандартами. Особенности заботы частного дома-интерната в сельской местности заключаются в персонифицированной заботе и создании больших возможностей для активности пожилых людей. The article discusses the features of care and care for the older in two cases, which are private nursing homes for people over sixty years of age. In particular, is the creation of concern in terms of great opportunities, the organization of alternative care for older people in such institutions and how such concerns. The study examines the relationship between formal (institutional) norms of social care for the older and informal rules that are created by employees of private nursing homes for the older who have limited professionalization in the field of work with people over sixty years of age. The role of informal rules in creating care for older people is important in terms of including the agency of older people and their inclusion in society. The study analyzes the combination of features of formal and informal rules for the implementation of care. Using the example of two cases, semi-structured interviews with employees and administration, volunteers of private nursing homes ( n =30), the author shows that the care that is formed in private nursing homes for the older can differ quite significantly depending on the location of the institution, the characteristics of employees and their professionalization For a more global space of a large city of regional significance care for the elderly is clearly regulated by various norms and standards. Features of care of a private nursing homes in rural areas consist in personalized care and creating greater opportunities for the activities of older people.



2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 225-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna-Kaisa Hoppania ◽  
Anna Mäki-Petäjä-Leinonen ◽  
Henna Nikumaa

The rights of older people to care have become a major political and legal issue with the ageing populations of many European and OECD countries. Finland is an interesting case in this respect because in 2013, extensive new legislation was passed there concerning the rights of the older population to access care services. This article describes the context in which the ‘Act on Supporting the Functional Capacity of the Older Population and on Social and Health Services for Older Persons’ (980/2012 Elderly Care Act) was drafted, and what the Act aims to accomplish. It argues that while the Act is ambitious and symbolically significant, it remains unsatisfactory in practice. This is the case especially for people with dementia, who end up being disadvantaged. We compare the Elderly Care Act with other relevant legislation, in particular legislation pertaining to disability services, and estimate the significance of the law from the perspective of older people with dementia. We also discuss the situation in Finland in relation to the global situation of people with dementia as the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was recently ratified in Finland. We show that disability legislation, rather than elderly care legislation, should be the framework through which the right to services should be secured for people with dementia.



2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 219-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meltem Meriç ◽  
Gül Ergün ◽  
Ganna Pola ◽  
Meral Dölek ◽  
Burcu Totur Dikmen ◽  
...  

The determination of nursing students’ attitudes toward elderly discrimination and their opinions about home care is important in that it will affect the quality of care provided to elderly individuals in their homes by the students in the future. For this reason, the aim of this study was to determine relationship between nursing students’ attitudes toward elderly discrimination and their opinions about home care services. This descriptive study was conducted with a total of 318 students from a university nursing faculty during the fall semester of the 2016-2017 academic year. Data for the study were collected using the Home Care Services Evaluation Questionnaire and the Ageism Attitude Scale. It was found that there was a positively significant but weak relationship between the students’ age discrimination scale total score and the positive discrimination subdimension score, and their opinions about home care services ( p < .001). Students’ attitudes toward elderly discrimination were found to make a statistically significant contribution to their opinions about home care services. It was ascertained that students’ attitudes toward elderly discrimination affected their opinions about home care services. It is recommended that geriatric nursing and home care nursing lectures be included in the nursing education curriculum, awareness of the importance of the concept of old age and elderly care be increased by establishing internship fields for students in institutions that provide home care for the elderly, and positive attitudes toward the elderly be promoted.



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