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Thursday, July 14, 2011
Learning Objective 1: Upon reading the poster, the learner will be able to identify verbal abuse of residents in long-term care facilities.
Learning Objective 2: Upon reading the poster, the learner will be able to recognize the effects of elder abuse.
It is estimated that approximately twenty percent of people over 65 years of age will spend some time in a long-term care (LTC). In the past, most research that addresses abuse in LTC facilities has focused on sexual abuse, physical abuse and financial abuse or neglect. Few researchers have focused on verbal abuse, a phenomenon not easily measured or quantified. Verbal abuse is significant to nursing as it focuses on the culture of our LTC facilities and allows for new consideration of our everyday, taken-for-granted practices that might be considered abusive or unethical. The research question for this study was, “What is the essence of witnessing verbal abuse toward residents in LTC?” The purpose of this Husserlian phenomenological doctoral dissertation study was to describe the experience of witnessing the phenomenon of verbal abuse toward residents in LTC from the perspective of the witness. A convenience sample of 17 nurse aides and licensed vocational nurses were asked open-ended questions in tape recorded interviews, which were transcribed verbatim. Colaizzi’s (1978) procedural steps for interpretive analysis were utilized. Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) criteria for trustworthiness were utilized to address rigor. Five thematic clusters emerged from the data: Witnessing As Becoming the Victim; Placing Oneself or Significant Other in the Victim’s Shoes; Witnessing As Perceiving That Certain Staff Do Not Belong in LTC; Witnessing As Reading the Victim; Witnessing As Reading the Bully; and Witnessing As Becoming a Warrior. Implications for the thematic results of this study included increased understanding of the phenomenon of verbal abuse in LTC and the development of an educational program that aims to eliminate this form of abuse.
See more of: Accepted WANS Posters
See more of: World Academy of Nursing Science: Oral Paper & Posters
See more of: World Academy of Nursing Science: Oral Paper & Posters