[Satisfaction with the quality of care in nursing homes--the nurses' perspective].
BACKGROUND
In Germany, the number of residents in Nursing Homes (NH) has increased in recent years, residents become older, increasingly multimorbid and suffer more from dementia. In parallel demands concerning the quality of care in NH have increased. The vivid poltical and public debate about quality of care, however, widely disregards the perception of nurses. The aim of this study is to investigate the nurses' satisfaction with the quality of care in their NH and potential psychological consequences.


METHODS
Secondary questionnaire data from 1489 nurses in 88 NH of the German 3Q-study (www.3q-studie.de) were used from the 2011 investigation. Questions regarding satisfaction enquire satsifaction in five nursing work domains. Descriptive analyses as well Chi2-tests were performed.


RESULTS
The majority of nurses were satisfied in the subdomain "overall quality of care" and "physical care" (80% each). 67% were satisfied with "the quality of care for residents with dementia" and 64% with "end-of-life care". Only 56% of the nurses were satisfied with "mental care". If nurses were unsatisfied with the quality of care, this was mostly perceived as a psychological stressor. Subgroup analysis showed a pattern for four of the five domains: dissatisfied nurses were older, better qualified, worked more than 25 hours per week and worked in larger NH. No such pattern was found for "quality of care for residents with dementia".


CONCLUSIONS
Nurses' satisfaction with the quality of care has shown to be a relevant work factor and potential stressor deserving more scientific and clinical attention. For NH it could constitute a core indicator for internal quality management as well as for human resource management. Research in work, health and economy in NH should also consider this factor.
Sascha G
SG
Schmidt
Martin N
MN
Dichter
Christan G G
CG
Schwab
Sabine
S
Bartholomeyczik
Hans Martin
HM
Hasselhorn
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000451:nursing*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000451:nursing*; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000592:standards*; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000523:psychology*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013727:Terminal Care; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology