“The supreme discipline of Nursing”–A qualitative content analysis of nurses' opinions on caring for people eighty years of age and older

Introduction: Nurses often experience stress and feel under time pressure when working with older people, increasing their job dissatisfaction. Especially people 80 years of age and older often require more complex and a greater measure of care, as the risk of care dependency is higher in this age g...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lena Maria Lampersberger, Gerhilde Schüttengruber, Christa Lohrmann, Franziska Großschädl
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-03-01
Series:Heliyon
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844024029086
_version_ 1797259773084696576
author Lena Maria Lampersberger
Gerhilde Schüttengruber
Christa Lohrmann
Franziska Großschädl
author_facet Lena Maria Lampersberger
Gerhilde Schüttengruber
Christa Lohrmann
Franziska Großschädl
author_sort Lena Maria Lampersberger
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: Nurses often experience stress and feel under time pressure when working with older people, increasing their job dissatisfaction. Especially people 80 years of age and older often require more complex and a greater measure of care, as the risk of care dependency is higher in this age group. This study was conducted to collect nurses’ experiences and opinions regarding the care of people 80 years of age and older, as well as to learn more about how nurses perceive this care. Method: We analysed narratives collected in an Austrian nationwide, cross-sectional online study to investigate nurses’ attitudes towards people 80 years of age and older and their perceptions regarding their care (N = 1197). Data were collected from May–October 2021 by using a convenience sampling method. In total, 149 participants filled in the free text field; these texts were analysed using a qualitative content analysis method. Results: Three main themes emerged from the analysis of the nurses' narratives: (1) ‘opinions on people in need of care’, (2) ‘reputation of nursing profession’, and (3) ‘criticism of current nursing practice’. Most narratives were assigned to the subthemes ‘positive opinions on nursing’, ‘ideal image of nursing’, and ‘shortage of staff’. Conclusion: Nurses considered their work with people aged 80 years and older to be meaningful and important, but they criticised working conditions which need to be improved. This could be achieved by offering further education and increasing nursing staff. Further research is needed to investigate nurses’ needs and wishes regarding the care of people aged 80 years and older.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T21:53:04Z
format Article
id doaj.art-2e8d2a8cf109468cbb00e41907263022
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2405-8440
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-24T23:14:45Z
publishDate 2024-03-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Heliyon
spelling doaj.art-2e8d2a8cf109468cbb00e419072630222024-03-17T07:56:37ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402024-03-01105e26877“The supreme discipline of Nursing”–A qualitative content analysis of nurses' opinions on caring for people eighty years of age and olderLena Maria Lampersberger0Gerhilde Schüttengruber1Christa Lohrmann2Franziska Großschädl3Corresponding author.; Institute of Nursing Science, Medical University of Graz, Graz, AustriaInstitute of Nursing Science, Medical University of Graz, Graz, AustriaInstitute of Nursing Science, Medical University of Graz, Graz, AustriaInstitute of Nursing Science, Medical University of Graz, Graz, AustriaIntroduction: Nurses often experience stress and feel under time pressure when working with older people, increasing their job dissatisfaction. Especially people 80 years of age and older often require more complex and a greater measure of care, as the risk of care dependency is higher in this age group. This study was conducted to collect nurses’ experiences and opinions regarding the care of people 80 years of age and older, as well as to learn more about how nurses perceive this care. Method: We analysed narratives collected in an Austrian nationwide, cross-sectional online study to investigate nurses’ attitudes towards people 80 years of age and older and their perceptions regarding their care (N = 1197). Data were collected from May–October 2021 by using a convenience sampling method. In total, 149 participants filled in the free text field; these texts were analysed using a qualitative content analysis method. Results: Three main themes emerged from the analysis of the nurses' narratives: (1) ‘opinions on people in need of care’, (2) ‘reputation of nursing profession’, and (3) ‘criticism of current nursing practice’. Most narratives were assigned to the subthemes ‘positive opinions on nursing’, ‘ideal image of nursing’, and ‘shortage of staff’. Conclusion: Nurses considered their work with people aged 80 years and older to be meaningful and important, but they criticised working conditions which need to be improved. This could be achieved by offering further education and increasing nursing staff. Further research is needed to investigate nurses’ needs and wishes regarding the care of people aged 80 years and older.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844024029086Nursing careAged careGeriatric80+Qualitative content analysisPerceptions
spellingShingle Lena Maria Lampersberger
Gerhilde Schüttengruber
Christa Lohrmann
Franziska Großschädl
“The supreme discipline of Nursing”–A qualitative content analysis of nurses' opinions on caring for people eighty years of age and older
Heliyon
Nursing care
Aged care
Geriatric
80+
Qualitative content analysis
Perceptions
title “The supreme discipline of Nursing”–A qualitative content analysis of nurses' opinions on caring for people eighty years of age and older
title_full “The supreme discipline of Nursing”–A qualitative content analysis of nurses' opinions on caring for people eighty years of age and older
title_fullStr “The supreme discipline of Nursing”–A qualitative content analysis of nurses' opinions on caring for people eighty years of age and older
title_full_unstemmed “The supreme discipline of Nursing”–A qualitative content analysis of nurses' opinions on caring for people eighty years of age and older
title_short “The supreme discipline of Nursing”–A qualitative content analysis of nurses' opinions on caring for people eighty years of age and older
title_sort the supreme discipline of nursing a qualitative content analysis of nurses opinions on caring for people eighty years of age and older
topic Nursing care
Aged care
Geriatric
80+
Qualitative content analysis
Perceptions
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844024029086
work_keys_str_mv AT lenamarialampersberger thesupremedisciplineofnursingaqualitativecontentanalysisofnursesopinionsoncaringforpeopleeightyyearsofageandolder
AT gerhildeschuttengruber thesupremedisciplineofnursingaqualitativecontentanalysisofnursesopinionsoncaringforpeopleeightyyearsofageandolder
AT christalohrmann thesupremedisciplineofnursingaqualitativecontentanalysisofnursesopinionsoncaringforpeopleeightyyearsofageandolder
AT franziskagroßschadl thesupremedisciplineofnursingaqualitativecontentanalysisofnursesopinionsoncaringforpeopleeightyyearsofageandolder