Nurses' Attitudes Toward Migrant Care Workers In Hospitals In Israel

Aims. To examine nurses’ attitudes on tasks that paid carers of older patients should or should not be allowed to perform and to examine the factors that best explain nurses’ attitudes towards the involvement of paid carers in providing care during the older patients’ hospitalization.

Background. Many older patients who are hospitalized are functionally dependent and employ paid carers who perform a variety of tasks during hospitalization. Yet, this issue has been barely examined.

Methods. The study included a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Five key persons in two general hospitals were interviewed and 265 nurses in internal medicine and geriatric wards were surveyed.

Results. There were no formal policies and guidelines regarding the tasks that paid carers should be allowed to perform. The majority of nurses perceived that paid carers should be allowed to perform a variety of tasks except for professional nursing tasks. Type of hospital and ward and nurses’ education were significant in explaining nurses’ attitudes towards involvement of paid carers in providing care to their older care recipients.

Conclusions. Attitudes of nurses towards paid carers are determined mainly by local organizational characteristics and nurses’ education. There is need for explicit policies and practice guidelines and their enforcement with regard to paid carers.