IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/jocnur/v21y2012i7-8p1136-114.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Forecasting the ward climate: a study from a dementia care unit

Author

Listed:
  • David Edvardsson
  • Per‐Olof Sandman
  • Birgit Rasmussen

Abstract

Aims and objectives. This article present findings from a study aiming to explore the psychosocial climate and its influence on the well‐being of people with dementia in a psycho‐geriatric hospital unit. Background. Environmental influence in dementia is well explored in relation to the physical environment; however, few studies have explored the psychosocial environment and its influence on well‐being. Design. The study had a grounded theory design. Methods. Participant observations were conducted in a psycho‐geriatric ward for assessment and treatment of people with dementia in Sweden (n = 36 hours). Data were collected and analysed in a dialectical fashion using the principles of grounded theory methodology. Results. The basic social process that best accounted for the variation in the psychosocial climate and well‐being of patients at the unit was ‘staff presence or absence’, conceptualised as the core category. Three categories emerged in relation to the core category; ‘sharing place and moment’, ‘sharing place but not moment’ and ‘sharing neither place nor moment’. Conclusions. Staff were catalysts for the psychosocial climate and when being present and engaged they could create a climate interpreted as at‐homeness which supported patient well‐being. When being absent, the climate quickly became anxious and this facilitated patient ill‐being. To provide quality care for people with dementia staff need to be aware of their role in setting the emotional tone of the psychosocial climate and also that this emotional tone significantly influences patient well‐being. Relevance to clinical practice. The findings are clinically relevant and can be operationalised and applied in clinical practice. Awareness of the intimate connection between staff presence and absence, the psychosocial climate and patient well‐being highlights an ethical responsibility to question: routines that promote staff absence; a culture of merely ‘doing for’; and nursing tasks which involve a minimum of staff–patient interaction. The findings have implications for managers as well as for clinical staff.

Suggested Citation

  • David Edvardsson & Per‐Olof Sandman & Birgit Rasmussen, 2012. "Forecasting the ward climate: a study from a dementia care unit," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(7‐8), pages 1136-1114, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:jocnur:v:21:y:2012:i:7-8:p:1136-114
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2011.03720.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2011.03720.x
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2011.03720.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Robin Digby & Susan Lee & Allison Williams, 2017. "The experience of people with dementia and nurses in hospital: an integrative review," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(9-10), pages 1152-1171, May.
    2. Mirre den Ouden & Sandra M. G. Zwakhalen & Judith M. M. Meijers & Michel H. C. Bleijlevens & Jan P. H. Hamers, 2019. "Feasibility of DAIly NURSE: A nursing intervention to change nursing staff behaviour towards encouraging residents’ daily activities and independence in the nursing home," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(5-6), pages 801-813, March.
    3. Sandra Pennbrant & Cecilia Hjorton & Caroline Nilsson & Margareta Karlsson, 2020. "“The challenge of joining all the pieces together” – Nurses’ experience of palliative care for older people with advanced dementia living in residential aged care units," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(19-20), pages 3835-3846, October.
    4. Ådel Bergland & Dag Hofoss & Marit Kirkevold & Tove Vassbø & David Edvardsson, 2015. "Person‐centred ward climate as experienced by mentally lucid residents in long‐term care facilities," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(3-4), pages 406-414, February.
    5. Kristin Mjelde Helleberg & Solveig Hauge, 2014. "“Like a Dance”: Performing Good Care for Persons with Dementia Living in Institutions," Nursing Research and Practice, Hindawi, vol. 2014, pages 1-7, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:jocnur:v:21:y:2012:i:7-8:p:1136-114. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2702 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.