Support workers’ experiences of work stress in long-term care settings: a qualitative study

ABSTRACT

Background: Support-workers’ performance and well-being are challenged by increasingly high workloads and poor working conditions, leading to high levels of occupational stress.

Aims: To explore the experiences of work stress for support-workers in New Zealand residential facilities.

Design: An Interpretive Descriptive study.

Methods: Data from ten (n = 10) support-workers were collected between December 2013 and June 2014, using semi-structured in-depth face-to-face interviews. Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes that captured participant reports of their experiences.

Results: Work stress was conceptualized by participants as being an everyday experience of having too much to deal with and feeling under constant pressure. It appeared to be a complex and fluid experience representing an inherent, dynamic tension between reasons to be a caregiver and the burden of caregiving. Participants highlighted a range of influencing factors (including lack of recognition, person and work context, and coping strategies), which may account for that fluidity.

Conclusion: The findings extend current knowledge about support-workers’ work stress by identifying the challenges relating to the lack of recognition of their role and expertize, the unintended consequences of person-centered care and the challenges faced by migrant support-workers.

KEYWORDS:

• Caregivers
• qualitative research
• occupational stress

Author contributions

KJC, NMK and KMM contributed to study design. KJC collected the data. KJC, NMK and KMM were involved in data analysis and manuscript writing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Karol J. Czuba

Mr Karol J Czuba is a Research Fellow at the AUT University, New Zealand. Karol’s research focuses on healthcare workforce issues, evaluation of rehabilitation process and on outcome measurement, with a particular interest in long-term institutional aged care. Karol is a recipient of the New Zealand Health Research Council’s Clinical Research Training Fellowship and is currently leading a project developing an online-based mentoring intervention for aged care support workers.

Nicola M. Kayes

Associate Professor Nicola M Kayes is the director of the Centre for Person Centred Research, AUT, New Zealand. Nicola’s research predominantly explores the intersection between health psychology and rehabilitation, aiming to challenge conventional rehabilitation practice through the development of innovative strategies for engagement and long term health and wellbeing. She is interested in the use of technology as a therapeutic tool, with the potential to optimize outcome for people living with the ongoing, disabling consequences of illness or injury.

Kathryn M. McPherson

Professor Kathryn M McPherson is an experienced public health researcher and has worked in the research field for over 16 years to improve the health of people with disabling conditions. Professor McPherson is author or co-author of more than 150 peer-reviewed journal articles. She has also served two terms on the HRC’s Public Health Research Committee.

Professor McPherson holds a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. She has clinical experience in nursing midwifery and community health, and an academic background in psychology and rehabilitation. In addition to having held appointments at AUT University, the University of Otago, the University of Auckland, and Victoria University of Wellington, Professor McPherson is Visiting Professor at a number of international universities.

Since 2015 McPherson has been chief executive of the Health Research Council of New Zealand.