'I have the world's best job' - staff experience of the advantages of caring for older people.
BACKGROUND
Besides a growing demand for safe high-quality care for older people, long-term care (LTC) often struggles to recruit appropriately qualified nursing staff. Understanding what LTC staff value in their work may contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of what can attract staff and support person-centred care.


OBJECTIVE
To explore staff experience of the advantages of working in LTC settings for older people.


METHODS
Narrative descriptions of 85 LTC staff in Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden on what they value in their work were analysed with qualitative content analysis.


METHODS
Ethical approval was obtained according to the requirements of each country, and participants provided informed consent prior to the individual interviews.


RESULTS
Working in LTC signifies bonding with the older people residing there, their next of kin and the team members. It means autonomy in one's daily tasks amalgamated with being a part of an affirmative team. Participants reported a sense of accomplishment and fulfilment; caring meant consideration and recognition of the older people and the relationships formed, which provided for professional and personal growth. The sharing of compassion between staff and residents indicated reciprocity of the relationship with residents.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings may be transferable to LTC in general although they address only the positive aspects of caring for older people and only the experiences of those staff who had consented to take part in the study.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings add to what underpins the quality of care in nursing homes: compassion in the nurse-resident relationship and person-centred care in LTC. They indicate reciprocity in the relations formed that may contribute to the empowerment of older people, but further studies are needed to explore this in more detail.
School of Education, Health and Social Studies, Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden.|Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Division of Nursing, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Ann Catrine
AC
Eldh
Fontys University of Applied Science, Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Teatske
T
van der Zijpp
Public Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Health and Population Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
Christel
C
McMullan
School of Health Sciences, Queen Margaret University, Musselburgh, UK.
Brendan
B
McCormack
Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
Kate
K
Seers
School of Healthcare Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, UK.
Jo
J
Rycroft-Malone
D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000523:psychology*
benefit; long-term care; nursing; older people; person-centred care; satisfaction; valuing