Drivers of change: Learning from the lived experiences of nursing home social workers

ABSTRACT

In response to the growing attention to integrated health care and the cultural change movement in nursing homes, this study examines the lived experiences of nursing home social workers to better understand their role perceptions, job satisfaction, and relationship with other staff members. Hermeneutic phenomenology was used in order to understand the lived experience of being a nursing home social worker. Ten nursing home social workers were recruited from a southern state and individual interviews were conducted. From the interviews, four themes emerged: challenge, coping, mattering, and rewarding. Guided by identity negotiation theory and social identity theory, these findings are discussed. Also, implications for social work education, nursing home administration, and policy is discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Health care professionals
• long-term care
• phenomenology
• social services

Acknowledgments

The authors express their appreciation for the social workers who freely gave of their time to tell stories of their life as a nursing home social worker.