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- | Image:Personal-injury-elder-abuse-sc-nursing-home-neglect-attorny-charleston.jpg|Elderly | + | Image:Personal-injury-elder-abuse-sc-nursing-home-neglect-attorny-charleston.jpg|Elderly Abuse Statistics |
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Revision as of 09:20, 30 October 2011
Professional Abuse of Elders
In countries like UK, Canada and Sweden there is an increasing rate of older
adults needing full time care in nursing facilities. [1] Elderly abuse within nursing homes
is becoming a serious problem globally because physical abuse, mental abuse, financial abuse
and neglect can all occur within the same nursing care facility. This has inspired researchers
to study the characteristics that make staff vulnerable to committing maltreatment, and the
characteristics of elderly patients that are vulnerable to being abused. The majority of research
has found three common factors that influence whether a nurse or staff member will engage in abusive
behaviour. The three common factors include; staff to patient ratio, the amount of training and
education received and burnout effect.
Patient to Staff Ratio
Much research has shown that facilities with a large number of patients and low number of staff tended
to be at risk for abuse, it is believed that this happens because the lack of staff can lead to poor
management and decision making. [2] Using questionnaires there was found a strong link
between the number of staff and the number of cases of abuse and neglect. [3]
It's important for older adults and the families of older adults to be aware of this risk.
Training Level
The amount of training and education regarding how to treat older adults in nursing care plays a strong
factor in abuse. It is important for nurses and staff members to have the proper amount of education
and training to make the right decisions. Buzgova & Ivanova (2011) performed research on 454
employees from 12 nursing homes using interviews and questionnaires, results showed that employees
at risk for being abusers tended to be employed for more than 5 years without proper training. Further
researcher should be conducted on how through education on treating older adults with ethical
principles could reduce the risk in once high risk staff. [4]
Burnout Effect
Burnout effect is when a person becomes so stressed that they can no longer function at a normal level.
They start to feel numb and apathetic. This can cause serious damage when nursing staff become affected
by burnout. Nurses with burnout effect are at risk for abusing patients because they will no longer feel
empathy or a high sense of responsibility for their well being. Hasson & Arnetz (2006) was interested in
the factors related to work satisfaction, through comparing nurses working in home-based elderly care and
nurses working in nursing home care. They used a questionnaire which measured their beliefs of competence
and how much stress and satisfaction they felt at work. [5] They found that nurses working in home-based
elderly care felt less competent, however, they tended to feel less stress and more satisfaction with their
work environment than nurses working in nursing home care. [6] Nurses from both care organizations felt
exhaustion from work though. Hasson & Arnetz (2006) argue that their findings show an importance
for interventions to be set up that would help nurses deal with work-related exhaustion. In Buzgova &
Ivanova (2011) correlative study they found more cases of abuse when nurses had more than 5 years
experience without proper training and also suffered from burnout effect. Natan, Lowenstein & Eisikovits
(2010) measured burn out effect in nurses using a Maslach Burnout Inventory, it was found that as they
had predicted there was a strong relationship found between burnout and elder abuse. This relationship
was statistically stronger than educational level and attitudes about elders and abuse. [7] Older adult
patients also have characteristics that put themselves at risk for being abused.
Traits of the Abused
Research has found that older adults with certain personality traits, mental disorders or behavioural
problems are vulnerable to abuse. Malmedal, Ingebrigtsen & Saveman (2009) found that elders tended
to be more vulnerable to abuse when they were very dependent on nursing staff. [8] This might be due
to the fact that when a nurse has to focus all of his or her attention on a patient they can experience
frustration and burnout effect more often. Buzgova & Ivanova (2011) measured survey responses from
patients and nursing staff and found that there was a link between personality and mental state of the
patient and the likelihood of them being abused. Older adults that have an aggressive or depressive
temperament and those suffering from mental problems such as dementia are vulnerable to being abused. [9]
--Kb09ou 16:07, 29 October 2011 (EDT)
Notes and References
- ↑ Hasson, H. H., & Arnetz, J. E. (2006). Nursing staff competence, work strain, stress and satisfaction in elderly. Journal of Clinical Nursing, (17), 468-481.
- ↑ Natan, M. B., & Lowenstein, A. (2010). Study of factors that affect abuse. Nursing Management, 17(8), 20-24.
- ↑ Natan, M. B., & Lowenstein, A. (2010). Study of factors that affect abuse. Nursing Management, 17(8), 20-24.
- ↑ Buzgova, R., & Ivanova, K. (2011). Violation of ethical principles. Nursing Ethics, 18(1), 64-78.
- ↑ Hasson, H. H., & Arnetz, J. E. (2006). Nursing staff competence, work strain, stress and satisfaction in elderly. Journal of Clinical Nursing, (17), 468-481.
- ↑ Hasson, H. H., & Arnetz, J. E. (2006). Nursing staff competence, work strain, stress and satisfaction in elderly. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 17), 468-481.
- ↑ Natan, M. B., Lowenstein, A., & Eisikovits, Z. (2010). Psycho-social factors affecting elders’. International Nursing Review, 57, 113- 120
- ↑ Malmedal, W., Ingebrigtsen, O., & Saveman, B. (2009). Inadequate care in Norwegian nursing homes – as reported. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 23, 231-242
- ↑ Buzgova, R., & Ivanova, K. (2011). Violation of ethical principles. Nursing Ethics, 18(1), 64-78