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From Aging Wiki 18

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]

Elderly Abuse Statistics

Burnout Effect

--Kb09ou 16:07, 29 October 2011 (EDT)

Notes and References

1. ↑ Hasson, H. H., & Arnetz, J. E. (2006). Nursing staff competence, work strain, stress and satisfaction in elderly. Journal of Clinical Nursing, (17), 468-481.
2. ↑ Natan, M. B., & Lowenstein, A. (2010). Study of factors that affect abuse. Nursing Management, 17(8), 20-24.
3. ↑ Natan, M. B., & Lowenstein, A. (2010). Study of factors that affect abuse. Nursing Management, 17(8), 20-24.
4. ↑ Buzgova, R., & Ivanova, K. (2011). Violation of ethical principles. Nursing Ethics, 18(1), 64-78.
5. ↑ Hasson, H. H., & Arnetz, J. E. (2006). Nursing staff competence, work strain, stress and satisfaction in elderly. Journal of Clinical Nursing, (17), 468-481.
6. ↑ Hasson, H. H., & Arnetz, J. E. (2006). Nursing staff competence, work strain, stress and satisfaction in elderly. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 17), 468-481.
7. ↑ Natan, M. B., Lowenstein, A., & Eisikovits, Z. (2010). Psycho-social factors affecting elders’. International Nursing Review, 57, 113- 120
8. ↑ Malmedal, W., Ingebrigtsen, O., & Saveman, B. (2009). Inadequate care in Norwegian nursing homes – as reported. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 23, 231-242
9. ↑ Buzgova, R., & Ivanova, K. (2011). Violation of ethical principles. Nursing Ethics, 18(1), 64-78