Cent Eur J Nurs Midw 2018, 9(4):906-914 | DOI: 10.15452/CEJNM.2018.09.0023

Dignity of elderly adults from the perspective of nurses: a qualitative descriptive study

©árka ©aňáková1, Juraj Čáp2,*
1 Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic
2 Department of Nursing, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Commenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia

Aim: The aim of this descriptive qualitative study was to analyze dignity in nursing care in institutionalised elderly adults from the perspective of nurses, and to identify factors affecting dignity.

Design: A descriptive qualitative study.

Methods: A descriptive qualitative study employing individual in-depth interviews. The sample comprised ten general nurses working in health and social institutions with round-the-clock care for elderly adults. A thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.

Results: Six main themes have been identified in relation to dignity: Regarding elderly adults as unique human beings; Privacy and embarrassment; Quality of relationships; Communication; Quality of care; and Environment. The main themes were further broken down into 24 sub-themes and their mutual relationships. Among important determinants for dignity, nurses listed sufficient staff and funding, the necessity for health and social workers to cooperate, and family relationships.

Conclusion: The resulting schema represents a description of nurses' experience of respecting dignity in primary nursing care for elderly adults. Nurses see dignity in open communication, room for privacy, securing quality individualised care, and preserving current family relationships. The schema may be used for a self-reflection by nurses in direct care for elderly adult, by the management of healthcare institutions and social care, and for students of nursing.

Keywords: dignity, elderly adults, interview, nurses, nursing care, thematic analysis

Received: March 20, 2018; Accepted: June 24, 2018; Published: September 30, 2018  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
©aňáková ©, Čáp J. Dignity of elderly adults from the perspective of nurses: a qualitative descriptive study. Central European Journal of Nursing and Midwifery. 2018;9(4):906-914. doi: 10.15452/CEJNM.2018.09.0023.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Abma T, Bruijn A, Kardol T, Schols J, Widdershoven G. Responsibilities in elderly care: MR Powell's narrative of duty and relations. Bioethics. 2012;26(1):22-31. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    2. Baillie L, Ford P, Gallagher A, Wainwright P. Nurses ʼ views on dignity in care. Nursing Older People. 2009;21(8):22-29. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    3. Baillie L, Gallagher A. Raising awareness of patient dignity. Nursing Standard. 2012;27(5):44-9. Go to original source...
    4. Braun V, Clarke V. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology. 2006;3(2):77‒101. Go to original source...
    5. Caelli K, Ray L, Mill J. ʽClear as mudʼ: toward greater clarity in generic qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. 2003;2(2):1-13. Go to original source...
    6. Cohen D, Crabtree B. Guidelines for designing, analyzing, and reporting qualitative research. Qualitative Research Guidelines Project. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; 2006. [cited 2018 Jan 10]. Available from: http://qualres.org/HomeGuid-3868.html
    7. Gallagher A. Dignity and respect for dignity-two key health professional values: implications for nursing practice. Nursing Ethics. 2004;11(6):587-599. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    8. Hall EC, Høy B. Re-establishing dignity: nursesʼ experiences of caring for older hospital patients. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences. 2012;26(2):287-294. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    9. Hall S, Dodd RH, Higginson IJ. Maintaining dignity for residents of care homes: a qualitative study of the views of care home staff, community nurses, residents and their families. Geriatric Nursing. 2014;35(1):55-60. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    10. Hendl, J. Kvalitativní výzkum. 2 vyd. Praha: Portál; 2008. (in Czech)
    11. Jacelon CS. The dignity of elders in an acute care hospital. Qualitative Health Research. 2003;13(4):543-556. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    12. Jacobson N. A taxonomy of dignity: a grounded theory study. BMC International Health Human Rights. 2009;9:3. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    13. Jacobson N. Dignity and health. Nashville: Vanderbil University Press; 2012. Go to original source...
    14. Jakobsen R, Sørlie V. Dignity of older people in a nursing home: narratives of care providers. Nursing Ethics. 2010;17(3):289-300. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    15. Kane J, de Vries K. Dignity in long-term care: an application of Nordenfelt's work. Nursing Ethics. 2017;24(6):744-751. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    16. Nguyin TST. Peer debriefing. In: Given LM, editor. The SAGE encyclopedia of qualitative research methods. Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore: SAGE; 2008. p. 604.
    17. Nordenfelt L. The varieties of dignity. Health Care Analysis. 2004;12(2):69-89. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    18. Oosterveld-Vlug MG, Pasman HR, van Gennip IE, Muller MT, Willems DL, Onwuteaka-Philipsen BD. Dignity and the factors that influence it according to nursing home residents: a qualitative interview study. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 2014;70(1):97-106. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    19. Sander M, Oxlund B, Jespersen A, Krasnik A, Mortensen EL, Westendorp RG, Rasmussen LJ. The challenges of human population ageing. Age and Ageing. 2015;44(2):185-187. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    20. Stievano A, Marinis MG, Russo MT, Rocco G, Alvaro R. Professional dignity in nursing in clinical and community workplaces. Nursing Ethics. 2012;19(3):341-356. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    21. ©aňáková ©, Čáp J. Dignity from the nurses' and older patients' perspective: a qualitative literature review. Nursing Ethics. 2018 Feb 22. doi: 10.1177/0969733017747960. [Epub ahead of print] Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    22. UN General Assembly. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 217 (III) A. Paris; 1948.
    23. van Gennip IE, Pasman HR, Oosterveld-Vlug MG, Willems DL, Onwuteaka-Philipsen BD. The development of a model of dignity in illness based on qualitative interviews with seriously ill patients. International Journal of Nursing Studies. 2013;50(8):1080-1089. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    24. Walsh K, Kowanko I. Nurses' and patients' perceptions of dignity. International Journal of Nursing Practice. 2002;8(3):143-151. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    25. Webster C, Bryan K. Older peopleʼs views of dignity and how it can be promoted in a hospital environment. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 2009;18(12):1784-1792. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    26. Williams V, Kinnear D, Victor C. ʽItʼs the little things that countʼ: healthcare professionalsʼ views on delivering dignified care. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 2016;72(4):782-790. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    27. Woolhead G, Tadd W, Boix-Ferrer JA, Krajcik S, SchmidPfahler B, Spjuth B, Stratton D, Dieppe P; Dignity, and Older Europeans (DOE) project. "Tu" or "Vous?" A European qualitative study of dignity and communication with older people in health and social care settings. Patient Education and Counseling. 2006;61(3):363-371. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    28. Yin RK. Case study research. Design and methods. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publishing; 2003.

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content