Long-term Care Facility Staff’s Experience of Safety Activities: A Qualitative Study

Background: Ensuring the safety and quality of care is paramount in long-term care facilities due to residents’ vulnerability. Objective: We explored the experiences of long-term care facility staff (eg, registered nurses [RNs], certified nursing assistants [CNAs], care workers, social workers, and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Western journal of nursing research 2023-11, Vol.45 (11), p.1008-1016
Main Authors: Min, Deulle, Yu, Soo-Young
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior problems
Comfort
Dementia
Disease control
Drugs
Evacuation
Fire prevention
Focus groups
Infections
Long term health care
Long term hospitals
Nurses
Older people
Patient safety
Physical symptoms
Physical therapists
Prevention
Professional training
Psychological problems
Quality of care
Residential care
Safety
Social workers
Therapists
Training
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Summary:Background: Ensuring the safety and quality of care is paramount in long-term care facilities due to residents’ vulnerability. Objective: We explored the experiences of long-term care facility staff (eg, registered nurses [RNs], certified nursing assistants [CNAs], care workers, social workers, and physical therapists) in safety activities, aiming to understand their meaning and nature. Methods: We conducted qualitative focus group interviews with 25 participants, specifically addressing safety issues in long-term care facilities through the use of open-ended questions. We transcribed the data and conducted thematic analysis. Results: Participants engaged in discussions about various challenges, including assisting residents in maintaining physical comfort, managing behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, ensuring medication safety, implementing infection control practices, and providing adequate training on fire prevention, evacuation, and response protocols. Themes identified were “physical comfort,” “managing dementia symptoms,” “drug administration,” “infection control,” and “fire prevention.” Conclusions: The staff emphasized the safety of residents as their highest priority. Considering the lack of registered nurses in long-term care facilities, ongoing training and supervision are necessary to ensure that other long-term care facility staff can perform safety activities.
ISSN:0193-9459
1552-8456
DOI:10.1177/01939459231201086