Care Instability in Nursing Homes; A Qualitative Study

BACKGROUND: The use of long-term care services has risen and this trend is expected to continue as the population reaches old age. OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to assess the caring conditions in nursing homes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study was conducted with a qualitative approach using conventional qualitative content analysis. The study was conducted on 23 Iranian participants including 14 elders and 9 caregivers. Data was collected with unstructured interviews and continued to the point of data saturation. Analysis of data was performed continually and concurrently with data collection through a comparative method. RESULTS: Three themes emerged from 595 open codes including care as unpleasant task, sustained care and insufficient resources. Ten subthemes indicated participants’ experiences and understanding of caring conditions in a nursing home. CONCLUSIONS: The prevailing given care was the routine one with a focus on physical aspects, although there was some psychological care given to the older people. The findings of this research are guidelines for managers and care planners in nursing homes who should pay attention to physical and psychological care needs of older people. In addition, it is important to pay close attention to the needs of caregivers and provision of instructions for treatment, supervision and education of caregivers and medical students to provide a better care.