Tímarit hjúkrunarfræðinga - 2024, Page 72

“Some days you can’t get your head out of the water” Nurses' experience of the work of team leaders in home care
ENGLISH SUMMARY
“Some days you can’t get your head out of the water”
Nurses' experience of the work of team leaders
in home care
Kristinsdottir, S., Sigursteinsdottir, H. and Stefansdottir, O. A.
ABSRTAKT
Home care is a service designed to meet nursing needs and help
clients be as self-sufficient as possible at home. Home care team
leaders oversee specific teams that go into client’s home and are
responsible for making sure clients get the services they need.
The aim of the research was to examine the job of home care
team leaders to shed light on the scope and responsibility of the
work and what guidance and support team leaders receive to
cope with the work.
Method
A qualitative methodology was used. Interviews were conducted
with ten team leaders within the home care of the Capital Region
Health Care. When analyzing the data, the working method of
grounded theory was used, and the results were presented in
categories.
Results
Three main categories were revealed, each with two subcategories,
the scope of the work, complex working conditions and support and
organization. The team leaders had varying degrees of success in
having an overview of everything that belonged to the job and
had to prioritize tasks which created pressure which, among other
things, led to many finding it difficult to distinguish between work
and private life. There were examples of team leaders experiencing
anxiety when the scope became too much. It could be a challenge
to maintain a daily schedule and they had to respond to changes
at short notice. The working conditions in clients’ homes were
different and the conditions for nursing were often challenging.
The team leaders had received little adjustment at the beginning
of their work, but most of them had a short work experience.
However, support was available if they asked for it themselves.
Conclusions
The team leader job is an extensive job, and a considerable amount
of stress comes with it. The results showed that better care is
needed for team leaders, especially new ones, and better support
is needed to cope with this demanding job.
Keywords
Team leader, qualitative research, grounded theory, working
conditions, management.
Correspondent
hjordis@unak.is