| Learning Objective #1: Understand the domains of effective relational care | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Understand the factors that influence nursing staffs' ability to provide effective relational care |
Objective: Meaningful relationships have been linked to residents’ quality of life (Bowers, Esmond, & Jacobson, 2000), however, there remains a paucity of research on how to measure these relationships, or effective relational skills, which quite possibly may be a necessary first step in relationship building (Williams & Tappen, 1999). Scales to measure careproviders’ relational skills have been developed by McGilton (2001) and the main objective of this study was to examine factors that may relate to careproviders’ ability to provide effective relational care to residents. Design and Methods: A sample of 70 careproviders and clients were interviewed and observed during care giving in this correlational study. The careproviders’ relational behaviors were assessed during care using an observational scale and were assessed by the residents using a self-report scale. Correlations between the relational scales and careprovider characteristics (age, length of time working, skill type, status), resident characteristics (age, cognitive impairment, social engagement, length of time on unit), and unit factors (number of clients, type of nursing model) believed to influence relational care provided to the client were examined. Findings: Results indicated that careproviders’ relational behaviors were correlated with careproviders’ perceptions of how close they felt to the resident (r = .25, p <.05) and with the number of residents staff cared for during their shift (r = -.25, p <.05). Conclusion: How close careproviders feel toward the clients they care for is moderately correlated to how they relate to them. The number of clients cared for by the careproviders was negatively related to the clients’ perception of how staff related to them. Implications: Encourage staff to care for clients they feel a close connection with and effective relational care without sufficient staff/client ratios may be unrealistic. Future inquiry is required to understand additional factors that may impact on effective relational care.
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