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American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias®, Vol. 17, No. 6, 350-356 (2002)
DOI: 10.1177/153331750201700606
© 2002 SAGE Publications

Impact of family members on nurse assistants: What helps, what hurts

Wendy J. Looman, BA

Linda S. Noelker, PhD

Dorothy Schur, BA

Carol J. Whitlatch, PhD

Farida K. Ejaz, PhD, LCSW

The Margaret Blenkner Research Institute, Benjamin Rose, Cleveland, Ohio

This qualitative study focuses on nurse assistant reports of both positive and negative behaviors exhibited by family members of cognitively impaired residents. The information reported is obtained from in-person interviews with 114 nurse assistants in 5 skilled nursing facilities (3 philanthropic, 2 proprietary) in Greater Cleveland, Ohio. Nurse assistants were predominantly female (89 percent), white (60 percent), with a mean age of 33, and had been caring for cognitively impaired nursing home residents for an average of five years.

Content analyses of nurse assistants’ responses reveal five categories of family members’ positive behaviors and four categories of negative behaviors. This article focuses on these themes and suggests topics for educational interventions for family members and nurse assistants who care for cognitively impaired nursing home residents. Topics include coping with family members’ feelings of guilt and related behaviors, understanding longstanding family relationship issues, and understanding possible reasons for decisions family members make regarding care of their relatives.

Key Words: cognitively impaired residents • family members • negative behavior • nurse assistants • positive behavior


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 AM J ALZHEIMERS DIS OTHER DEMENHome page
C. S. Mackenzie and G. Peragine
Measuring and enhancing self-efficacy among professional caregivers of individuals with dementia
American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias, September 1, 2003; 18(5): 291 - 299.
[Abstract] [PDF]