Problems with residential-type nursing homes for the elderly from viewpoints of nurses and care workers

Relationship between ambiguous characteristics of residential-type nursing homes for the elderly and difficulties faced by nurses and care workers

Abstract

This study addressed the difficulty of visualizing the problems with residential-type nursing homes for the elderly (hereafter “residential-type”) by using semi-structured interviews with nurses and care workers. The interviews revealed that the workers were confused by the general expectation of the residents' families that they should provide watch-over functions even though the facility was defined as a “home” by law. This indicates that the management of residential-type should establish a collaborative system that enables workers to focus on their work while ensuring service quality as well as maximizing worker expertise.