Corroborating indicates nurses' ethical values in a geriatric ward

Older adults' experiences of participation in daily activities in Swedish assisted living

BACKGROUND

According to Swedish law, older adults in Sweden should be able to live a good, safe, and independent life with social and healthcare provided, based on their individual needs. In assisted living in Swedish eldercare the environment affects the older adults' ability to participate in decision-making and strengthens their ability to feel meaningfulness. The ability of staff working in social and healthcare to invite older adults to participate varies. It is important to examine how older adults perceive their situation, as caregivers in eldercare tend to focus on routine work and experience difficulties in meeting the individual needs of older adults. The aim of this study was to explore how older adults in assisted living experienced participation in daily activities.

METHODS

A qualitative interview study was conducted in two municipalities in the western part of Sweden. An exploratory and inductive design was used. Individual interviews were conducted with 11 older adults living in two different assisted living facilities. The data were analysed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

The interviews resulted in three themes: Being involved, Sense of well-being, and Influenced by the context. The older adults' experiences of participation were interpreted as feelings of being involved in daily life activities, and how they felt involved in their own care and nursing. Participation created prerequisites for well-being. Sense of well-being could be related to feelings of security and social community. The organisation and work environment of the healthcare staff had a great impact on their ability to increase the participation of the older adults. The older adults were aware of the everyday work situation of the providers of social and healthcare and were Influenced by the context.

DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION

Important conditions for a good quality of life and participation for the older adults are to be treated with respect, receive information, and be able to choose. The older adults expressed several good ideas for improvements and a willingness to be involved in the development of the organisation at different levels. It is essential to invite older adults in assisted living to participate in the design of care and nursing.

A systematic review of ethical and legal issues in elder care

BACKGROUND

Ethical and legal issues are increasingly being reported by health caregivers; however, little is known about the nature of these issues in geriatric care. These issues can improve work and care conditions in healthcare, and consequently, the health and welfare of older people.

AIM

This literature review aims to identify research focusing on ethical and legal issues in geriatric care, in order to give nurses and other health care workers an overview of existing grievances and possible solutions to take care of old patients in a both ethical and legally correct way.

METHODS

Using a systematic approach based on Aveyard, a search of the PubMed, CINAHL, and Ethicshare databases was conducted to find out the articles published on ethical and legal issues in geriatric care.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

The approval for the study was obtained from UMIT-The Health and Life Sciences University, Austria.

RESULTS

Only 50 articles were included for systematic analysis reporting ethical and legal issues in the geriatric care. The results presented in this article showed that the main ethical issues were related to the older people's autonomy, respect for their needs, wishes and values, and respect for their decision-making. The main legal issues were related to patients' rights, advance directives, elderly rights, treatment nutrition dilemma, and autonomy.

CONCLUSION

Further education for professional caregivers, elderly people, and their families is needed on following topics: care planning, directive and living wills, and caregiver-family member relationships to guide and support the elderly people within their decision-making processes and during the end-of-life care.

Managers' experiences of ethical problems in municipal elderly care: a qualitative study of written reflections as part of leadership training

Background: Managers in elderly care have a complex ethical responsibility to address the needs and preferences of older persons while balancing the conflicting interests and requirements of relatives' demands and nursing staff's work environment. In addition, managers must consider laws, guidelines, and organizational conditions that can cause ethical problems and dilemmas that need to be resolved. However, few studies have focused on the role of health care managers in the context of how they relate to and deal with ethical conflicts. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe ethical problems experienced by managers in elderly care. Methods: We used a descriptive, interpretative design to analyze textual data from two examinations in leadership courses for managers in elderly care. A simple random selection of 100 out of 345 written exams was made to obtain a manageable amount of data. The data consisted of approximately 300 pages of single-spaced written text. Thematic analysis was used to evaluate the data. Results: The results show that managers perceive the central ethical conflicts relate to the older persons' autonomy and values versus their needs and the values of the staff. Additionally, ethical dilemmas arise in relation to the relatives' perspective of their loved one's needs and preferences. Legislations, guidelines, and a lack of resources create difficulties when managers perceive these factors as conflicting with the care needs of older persons. Conclusion: Managers in elderly care experience ethical conflicts that arise as unavoidable and perennial values conflicts, poorly substantiated values, and problematic organizational conditions. Structured approaches for identifying, reflecting on, and assessing ethical problems in the organization should therefore be implemented.

Corroborating indicates nurses' ethical values in a geriatric ward

The aim of the study was to identify nurses' ethical values, which become apparent through their behaviour in the interactions with older patients in caring encounters at a geriatric clinic.Descriptions of ethics in a caring practice are a problem since they are vague compared with the four principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice.A Grounded Theory methodology was used. In total, 65 observations and follow-up interviews with 20 nurses were conducted, and data were analysed by constant comparative analysis.THREE CATEGORIES WERE IDENTIFIED: showing consideration, connecting, and caring for. These categories formed the basis of the core category: "Corroborating." In corroborating, the focus is on the person in need of integrity and self-determination; that is, the autonomy principle. A similar concept was earlier described in regard to confirming. Corroborating deals more with support and interaction. It is not enough to be kind and show consideration (i.e., to benefit someone); nurses must also connect and care for the older person (i.e., demonstrate non-maleficence) in order to corroborate that person.The findings of this study can improve the ethics of nursing care. There is a need for research on development of a high standard of nursing care to corroborate the older patients in order to maintain their autonomy, beneficence, and non-maleficence. The principal of justice was not specifically identified as a visible nursing action. However, all older patients received treatment, care, and reception in an equivalent manner.