Nursing assistant's perceptions of the good work environment in municipal elderly care in Sweden –a focus group study

• Published in: Journal of health organization and management 2021, Vol.35 (9), p.163-177
• Main Authors: Maneschiöld, Per-Ola, Lucaci-Maneschiöld, Diana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: aged; Arbetsvetenskap; Assistants; BIKVA model; Communication; Demography; Elder care; elderly care; Employment; Focus groups; Health care management; Health Care Service and Management, Health Policy and Services and Health Economy; human; Hälso- och sjukvårdsorganisation, hälsopolitik och hälsoekonomi; interview; latitude; manager; New Public Management; Nursing; Nursing assistant; Nursing home; Nursing homes; Nursing Science; Older people; Omvårdnad; perception; personnel shortage; Public administration; Qualitative research; Recruitment; Research Paper; Senior managers; Sense of coherence; shift work; Shiftwork; Skill development; Staffing; Stressful environment; Sweden; Wage rates; Work environment; Work-life conditions; Workforce planning; Working hours; Working Life Science; Workloads
• ISSN: 1477-7266; 1758-7247; 1758-7247
• DOI: 10.1108/JHOM-07-2020-0290

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate aspects related to difficulty to retain nursing assistants at nursing homes in Sweden related to perceived work environment characteristics.Design/methodology/approachTo reveal aspects related to difficulty to retain nursing assistants, the paper uses the BIKVA model, sense of coherence and New Public Management (NPM). In total, three focus groups with nursing assistants at three nursing homes are interviewed with corresponding individual interviews with their senior managers and users. The purpose is to analyze the situation from the affected group of nursing assistants. The focus of this study is how nursing assistants discuss related to recruit and retain nursing assistants at nursing homes and elderly care and the response from senior management related to those aspects.FindingsThe main conclusions are that nursing assistants consider their job as meaningful, but limited latitude and direct involvement in managing their daily tasks in a continuous communication with management affect negatively. Furthermore and combined with wage levels, aspects related to scheduling, working hours, shift work, split shifts and understaffing generate a burdensome and stressful environment affecting the possibility to retain staff in a negative direction.Originality/valueThe research uses a new approach utilizing the BIKVA model, sense of coherence and NPM. The study shows that central in retaining nursing assistants at nursing homes relates to aspects such as wages, staffing, shift work and split shifts and continuous communication between nursing assistants and management.