Elke stap telt. Dagelijkse activiteiten van verpleeghuisbewoners en de rol van verpleegkundigen en verzorgenden

Summary

Every step counts. Daily activities of nursing home residents and the role of nursing staff.
Mirre den Ouden

AIM: To develop and evaluate a nursing intervention to encourage nursing home residents in daily activities and independence.
METHOD: Different methods were used to develop the nursing intervention: observations, surveys, literature search, and interviews with care professionals (individual and focus group). The intervention was evaluated in a feasibility study and a quasi-experimental study.
FINDINGS: Nursing home residents were mainly inactive during the day. They slept, watched TV or did nothing. Nursing staff took over almost half of residents’ activities. They indicated that household activities were encouraged less often than activities of daily life. The observations, questionnaires, literature, and interviews resulted in an intervention called DAIly NURSE. This intervention aims to change nursing staff behaviour targeted at encouraging residents’ daily activities and independence through creating awareness. It consists of three components; policy, coaching-on-the-job, and education. DAIly NURSE was feasible in care practice. DAIly NURSE increased the engagement of residents in daily activities. No changes in nursing staff behaviour were observed, nevertheless, nursing staff perceived that they encouraged residents’ activities more often.
DISCUSSION and CONCLUSION: Nursing home residents should be encouraged in daily activities and independence by nursing staff. DAIly NURSE might support nursing staff in changing their behaviour and creating awareness.

Keywords: Intervention, nursing staff behaviour, nursing home resident, daily activities, independence