Enhancing undergraduate nursing curricula to cultivate person-centred care for culturally and linguistically diverse older people

Keeping calm on a busy day-an interpersonal skill home care patients desire in health workers: hermeneutical phenomenological method

Background

In Western countries, many health and social care provisions have been transferred to primary care, and most older patients wish to remain in their own homes for as long as possible. For older patients who live alone, health workers could be their only personal contacts. Hence, health workers’ personal skills affect their relationships with these patients. Accordingly, this study aimed to shed light on the interpersonal skills needed by health workers to establish good relationships with older home care patients and highlight the importance of interpersonal skills training in nursing education.

Methods

This study adopted a hermeneutical phenomenological approach. The qualitative method was used to elicit data on patients’ perspectives. Ten home care patients were interviewed individually in their own homes between December 2019 and January 2020.

Results

Despite individual variations, health workers’ interpersonal skills are of significance with regard to the social well-being of patients living at home. The findings revealed that patients want health workers to be mentally present, congruent in their communications, calm and relaxed during the available time spent with them, and capable of facilitating autonomy.

Conclusions

It is important to present patients’ perspectives to ensure that nursing education is geared towards patients’ best interests.

Trial registration number

The Norwegian Centre for Research Data (NSD): 953937.

Teaching Gerontology in Transcultural Academics: A Phenomenographic Study of Thai and Swedish Nurse Educators' Conceptions of Gerontological Nursing

INTRODUCTION

There is an urgent need for registered nurses with gerontological competence within long-term care (LTC) of older adults. Despite increases of life expectancy, LTC for older adults is not emphasized in nursing curricula in neither Sweden nor Thailand. Thus, the aim was to explore conceptions on gerontological nursing (GN) among Swedish and Thai nurse educators.

METHOD

A qualitative phenomenographic method, based on open-ended interviews with five Thai and nine Swedish nurse educators was conducted.

RESULTS

The results indicate a paradox between the educators' knowledge about the implications of global aging, their hope of own aging, and LTC. The ethical responsibility of being credible and a source of inspiration in teaching about aging are focused, while GN seem to be less important.

DISCUSSION

To increase students' interest in GN, measures need to be taken within the educational arenas, where the educators' own conceptions toward GN, cultural aspects of aging, and LTC are discussed.