CONFLICT AND AGGRESSION AS STRESSORS IN THE WORK-ENVIRONMENT OF NURSING ASSISTANTS - IMPLICATIONS FOR INSTITUTIONAL ELDER ABUSE

Elder abuse and mistreatment occurring in institutional settings is a phenomenon that is as yet poorly understood. In considering the contex t in which elder abuse and mistreatment may arise, understanding the c aregivers' work environment is an important variable. As front line st aff, nursing assistants are subject to multiple stressors that undersc ore the highly interpersonal nature of caregiving. This paper describe s the results of a Canadian study that examined conflict, aggression, and burn-out in one group of nursing assistants. Nursing assistant bum -out scores were similar to scores reported for other health-care work ers. Subjects reported that conflict with residents most commonly rela ted to the resident wanting to go outside the facility or personal hyg iene. An analysis of incident reports indicated that less than 0.3% of the physical and verbal aggression nursing assistants endure from res idents is formally acknowledged. On average, a nursing assistant in th is health care facility may expect to be physically assaulted by resid ents 9.3 times per month and verbally assaulted 11.3 times per month. Findings indicate a slight correlation between bum-out and conflict an d also between burn-out and reported aggression from residents, A stat istically significant relationship was noted between conflict with res idents and resident aggression from residents.