title: Story sharing: enhancing nurse aide-resident relationships in long-term care.
abstract: National surveys often report nursing home deficiencies related to the preservation of residents' dignity and respectful care. Many nurse aides (NAs), who provide the majority of personal care, are unprepared to engage in empathic and meaningful relationships with residents. This article reports the findings of a pilot mixed method study comparing two interventions, Story Sharing (StS) and Communication Skills, on NA levels of mutuality, empathy, job attitude, and self-efficacy and resident levels of empathy and perceived caring behaviors. A quasi-experimental/interpretive phenomenological design was used. Total Mutuality and subscale (Shared Values, Affective Closeness, Shared Pleasurable Activities, Reciprocity) scores were significantly higher in the StS NA groups only, as were postintervention Empathy scores. Other trends are reported as well. StS is one approach toward helping NH staff and residents understand, respect, and connect with one another.
authors.affiliation: Edgar and Grace Gnitzinger Endowed Chair in Geriatric Nursing, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, School of Nursing, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-1029, USA. dheliker@utmb.edu
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Heliker
authors.forename: Hoang Thanh
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Nguyen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training; D008134:Long-Term Care; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009728:Nursing Assistants / Q000193:education*; D009735:Nursing Homes; D010865:Pilot Projects; D020377:Self Efficacy; D014481:United States