Ethically challenging situations in eldercare: A cross-sectional study

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Occupational Health
• Ethics in Healthcare

Background:

• Ethically challenging situations are a significant stressor for eldercare employees.
• These situations can negatively impact the well-being and job satisfaction of healthcare professionals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of ethically challenging situations across different Finnish eldercare service types.
• To investigate the relationship between organizational constraints and poor work-unit collaboration with these challenging situations.

Main Methods:

• A 2020 cross-sectional survey of 4,347 Finnish eldercare employees across home care, service housing, outpatient/ward care, and guidance/activity services.
• Data analysis included variance analysis, t-tests, and linear regression.
• Informed consent was obtained, and the study was ethically approved.

Main Results:

• Service housing, nurses, and practical nurses reported the highest levels of ethically challenging situations.
• Organizational constraints, specifically job strain and organizational injustice, showed the strongest positive association with these situations.
• Poor work-unit collaboration had a minor positive association.

Conclusions:

• Organizational constraints, particularly job strain and injustice, are key factors contributing to ethically challenging situations in eldercare.
• Identifying and mitigating these constraints is essential for supporting eldercare workers.