Staff Perceptions of Patient Interactions in Subacute/Post-Acute Nursing Home Units: A Qualitative Study

The current study examined multidisciplinary staff's perceptions of the impact of staff-patient interactions in short-term nursing home units.

We conducted five focus groups with 32 nursing home staff with experience in subacute/post-acute care (e.g., nursing, therapy). Two independent coders analyzed qualitative data using thematic analysis.

Four themes emerged: High Emotional Expression Among Short-Stay Patients; Clinical Care Team Making Sense of Patients' Emotions; Bidirectional Exchange of Emotions Between Patients and Staff; and Coping With Emotions is a Normal Part of the Job/Workplace.

Staff-patient interactions led to negative (e.g., emotional exhaustion, imposter syndrome) and positive (e.g., patient gratitude) experiences among staff. Participants described a bidirectional relationship between staff and patient emotions. Findings may help identify opportunities to strengthen interpersonal effectiveness and emotion regulation among staff and patients as well as strategies to improve unit culture and organizational support (e.g., social support, flexible assignments, psychological services).