[Reducing work stress in geriatric care: a training program for nursing team and administrators]

Caregivers of the residents in nursing homes are exposed to a high degree of physical and mental stress. The purpose of this study was to develop and to test the effects of skill training aimed at reducing occupational stress. The training consisting of 12 sessions of 90 minutes each was designed for nursing assistants and for care supervisors, respectively. Contents of the program are communicating with the demented, coping with job stress and cooperating with colleagues and subordinates, respectively. Eleven homes for the elderly and nursing homes were involved in the pilot study; 88 caregivers participated in the training, 34 of them were supervisors and 54 nursing assistants. The participants mainly appreciated the contents of the training. A controlled study design was applied to evaluate the training effects. 56 participants assessed their competencies, their job conditions and their health status at the beginning, at the end of the training as well as 12 weeks after the intervention had been finished. 56 persons completed the questionnaire receiving no training. Among the training participants, particularly the self-care skills improved. In addition, occupational stress could be reduced and the climate with the residents improved significantly, whereas the frequency of health problems did not change. Compared to the changes also observed in the control group, statistically significant effects were confined to the improvement of the climate with the residents. Care supervisors in general reported a higher benefit from the training than did nursing assistants. The results of the pilot study were used to adapt the training to the caregivers' needs.