IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i4p2106-d748430.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Good Care during COVID-19: A Narrative Approach to Care Home Staff’s Experiences of the Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Marleen D. W. Dohmen

    (Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing, 2333 AA Leiden, The Netherlands
    Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands)

  • Charlotte van den Eijnde

    (Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing, 2333 AA Leiden, The Netherlands
    Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands)

  • Christina L. E. Thielman

    (Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing, 2333 AA Leiden, The Netherlands)

  • Jolanda Lindenberg

    (Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing, 2333 AA Leiden, The Netherlands
    Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands)

  • Johanna M. Huijg

    (Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing, 2333 AA Leiden, The Netherlands
    Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands)

  • Tineke A. Abma

    (Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing, 2333 AA Leiden, The Netherlands
    Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands)

Abstract

Due to its major impact on Dutch care homes for older people, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented care staff with unprecedented challenges. Studies investigating the experiences of care staff during the COVID-19 pandemic have shown its negative impact on their wellbeing. We aimed to supplement this knowledge by taking a narrative approach. We drew upon 424 personal narratives written by care staff during their work in a Dutch care home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Firstly, our results show that care staff have a relational-moral approach to good care. Residents’ wellbeing is their main focus, which they try to achieve through personal relationships within the triad of care staff–resident–significant others (SOs). Secondly, our results indicate that caregivers experience the COVID-19 mitigation measures as obstructions to relational-moral good care, as they limit residents’ wellbeing, damage the triadic care staff–residents–SOs relationship and leave no room for dialogue about good care. Thirdly, the results show that care staff experiences internal conflict when enforcing the mitigation measures, as the measures contrast with their relational-moral approach to care. We conclude that decisions about mitigation measures should be the result of a dialogic process on multiple levels so that a desired balance between practical good care and relational-moral good care can be determined.

Suggested Citation

  • Marleen D. W. Dohmen & Charlotte van den Eijnde & Christina L. E. Thielman & Jolanda Lindenberg & Johanna M. Huijg & Tineke A. Abma, 2022. "Good Care during COVID-19: A Narrative Approach to Care Home Staff’s Experiences of the Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-16, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:4:p:2106-:d:748430
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/4/2106/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/4/2106/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Saskia Elise Duijs & Anouk Haremaker & Zohra Bourik & Tineke A. Abma & Petra Verdonk, 2021. "Pushed to the Margins and Stretched to the Limit: Experiences of Freelance Eldercare Workers During the Covid-19 Pandemic in the Netherlands," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1-2), pages 217-235, April.
    2. Jalal Alharbi & Debra Jackson & Kim Usher, 2020. "The potential for COVID‐19 to contribute to compassion fatigue in critical care nurses," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(15-16), pages 2762-2764, August.
    3. Hanneke J. A. Smaling & Bram Tilburgs & Wilco P. Achterberg & Mandy Visser, 2022. "The Impact of Social Distancing Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic on People with Dementia, Family Carers and Healthcare Professionals: A Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-12, January.
    4. Anne‐Kari Johannessen & Anne Werner & Sissel Steihaug, 2014. "Work in an intermediate unit: balancing between relational, practical and moral care," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(3-4), pages 586-595, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Suzie Noten & Annerieke Stoop & Jasper De Witte & Elleke Landeweer & Floor Vinckers & Nina Hovenga & Leonieke C. van Boekel & Katrien G. Luijkx, 2022. "“Precious Time Together Was Taken Away”: Impact of COVID-19 Restrictive Measures on Social Needs and Loneliness from the Perspective of Residents of Nursing Homes, Close Relatives, and Volunteers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-18, March.
    2. Judith E. Arnetz & Eamonn Arble & Sukhesh Sudan & Bengt B. Arnetz, 2021. "Workplace Cognitive Failure among Nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-15, October.
    3. Marjolein Thijssen & Maud J. L. Graff & Monique A. S. Lexis & Maria W. G. Nijhuis-van der Sanden & Kate Radford & Pip A. Logan & Ramon Daniels & Wietske Kuijer-Siebelink, 2023. "Collaboration for Developing and Sustaining Community Dementia-Friendly Initiatives: A Realist Evaluation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-24, February.
    4. Matthew A. Ng & Anthony Naranjo & Ann E. Schlotzhauer & Mindy K. Shoss & Nika Kartvelishvili & Matthew Bartek & Kenneth Ingraham & Alexis Rodriguez & Sara Kira Schneider & Lauren Silverlieb-Seltzer & , 2021. "Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Accelerated the Future of Work or Changed Its Course? Implications for Research and Practice," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-28, September.
    5. Luis Manuel Blanco-Donoso & Jennifer Moreno-Jiménez & Mercedes Hernández-Hurtado & José Luis Cifri-Gavela & Stephen Jacobs & Eva Garrosa, 2021. "Daily Work-Family Conflict and Burnout to Explain the Leaving Intentions and Vitality Levels of Healthcare Workers: Interactive Effects Using an Experience-Sampling Method," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-17, February.
    6. Agnieszka Markiewicz-Gospodarek & Aleksandra Górska & Renata Markiewicz & Zuzanna Chilimoniuk & Marcin Czeczelewski & Jacek Baj & Ryszard Maciejewski & Jolanta Masiak, 2022. "The Relationship between Mental Disorders and the COVID-19 Pandemic—Course, Risk Factors, and Potential Consequences," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-18, August.
    7. Silvia Gonella & Paola Di Giulio & Alexandra Antal & Nicola Cornally & Peter Martin & Sara Campagna & Valerio Dimonte, 2022. "Challenges Experienced by Italian Nursing Home Staff in End-of-Life Conversations with Family Caregivers during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Descriptive Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-18, February.
    8. Caterina Schug & Franziska Geiser & Nina Hiebel & Petra Beschoner & Lucia Jerg-Bretzke & Christian Albus & Kerstin Weidner & Eva Morawa & Yesim Erim, 2022. "Sick Leave and Intention to Quit the Job among Nursing Staff in German Hospitals during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-15, February.
    9. Fiona Maxton & Philip Darbyshire & David R. Thompson, 2021. "Research nurses rising to the challenges of COVID‐19," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(5-6), pages 13-15, March.
    10. Saskia Elise Duijs & Tineke Abma & Janine Schrijver & Zohra Bourik & Yvonne Abena-Jaspers & Usha Jhingoeri & Olivia Plak & Naziha Senoussi & Petra Verdonk, 2022. "Navigating Voice, Vocabulary and Silence: Developing Critical Consciousness in a Photovoice Project with (Un)Paid Care Workers in Long-Term Care," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-20, May.
    11. Jannie Laursen & Kristoffer Andresen & Jacob Rosenberg, 2016. "Relatives to Critically Ill Patients Have No Sense of Coherence: A Quality Improvement Article Using Mixed Methods," Nursing Research and Practice, Hindawi, vol. 2016, pages 1-7, September.
    12. Shuster, Stef M. & Lubben, Noah, 2022. "The uneven consequences of rapid organizational change: COVID-19 and healthcare workers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 315(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:4:p:2106-:d:748430. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.