Nursing auxiliaries: developing services for elderly people

The establishment of a project to support and develop the role of nursing auxiliaries working with elderly people is described. Organised and run by two clinical facilitators, a variety of research methods, including interviews and non-participant observation of clinical practice, were used to establish baseline data. The interview information showed that there was general dissatisfaction among trained and untrained staff about the auxiliaries' roles, and clinical practice assessment of 206 auxiliaries demonstrated deficiencies in their communication, lifting and infection control techniques. Individual ward development and management of change plans were then set up and operated.