Formal caregivers care concepts of elderly people living in a nursing home

Abstract

Due to the gradual increase in elderly population and the complexity of the process of taking care of long-stay nursing home residents, the formal caregiver is expected to be prepared and to have specific knowledge in the area. This study intended to identify the concepts in elderly care conveyed by formal caregivers in a nursing home located in the municipality of Fortaleza-CE, Brazil. This is a descriptive and exploratory study with a qualitative approach that was carried out in July 2009 with seven formal caregivers in a long-term nursing home. The data were collected via semi-structured interviews and analysed by thematic content analysis. The nurses participating in the study were aged between 20 and 40 years old, mostly female, living in Fortaleza, married, with up to 10 years of formal education, and 1 to 2 years working experience in the area. Five thematic categories configuring these nurses' views on elderly care emerged from the interviews. Elderly care is perceived as: technique/assistance; interaction; subjectivity; attitude; and subject de-characterization. The nurses' tendency to confine the care practice to the mere execution of technical procedures highlighted their difficulty to understand the concept of care in a broader sense. This aspect along with the fragmentation of patient care can contribute to the devaluation of the professionals involved in the process.