Att leda utan klara gränser : om enhetschefers arbetssituation i kommunal äldreomsorg

This study is about supervisors in municipal old-age care. The aim was to describe and attempt to understand what some supervisors in their words and actions are trying to express concerning their work and their work situation. This study was an empirically based investigation using a qualitative approach; the data collection methods comprised of interviews and observations as well as discussion about case studies. Three categories of discourse emerged: The dilemma of accessibility; Torn between different approaches and The ever present uncertainty . Habermas´s theory of communicative action was used as a theoretical framework. Laws and budget restrictions are examples of control instruments that are used in municipal old-age care; these influence the supervisors so that their actions are based on a purposive action perspective. The supervisors themselves believe that in their work they would benefit from a greater degree of purposive action. At the same time they seem to comprehend the social dimension as meaningful and in many situations the most feasible one. They feel not enough space is allowed to enable communicative rationality to take place; which may explain the uncertainty and duality expressed