Nurse Assistants’ Perception of Their Job at a Nursing Home

[[abstract]]The percentage of elderly population in Taiwan was 10.4% (about 2,402,000 elders) in 2008. Usually, elders are cared by family caregivers at home. Nowadays, the elders may hire assistants or live in care facilities out-of-pocket due to the aging society and the change of family structure. As the increase of the elderly population and long-term care facilities, the demand for nurse assistants will be increasing. Nurse assistants’ perceptions of their job would influence quality of care. The purpose of this study was to explore nurse assistants’ perception of their job. A qualitative research design was used. Data were collected by in-depth interview. Fifteen nurse assistants of a nursing home in Taichung participated in this study, which used purposive sampling. The interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed for content analysis. Four themes were emerged: (1)semi-professional job, (2)conscience job, (3) heavy workload, and (4)job dilemma. The findings of this study may provide information to administrators of nursing homes and government to understand nurse assistants’ perception of their job. Administrators of nursing homes and government may offer adequate and necessary help to nurse assistants to improve quality of care