Chronic Stress in Employees of Nursing Homes

This quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted pre-COVID between January 2019 and October 2019 in nine nursing home facilities in the German federal states of Hamburg, Bremen, Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in both rural as well as urban areas. All employees of the facility, e.g. nursing staff, kitchen staff, home management, professional housekeepers and psycho-social caretakers were included in this study. The nine care facilities included are facilities run by a joint provider, which made it possible to ask all employees present to take part in the study during working hours. All employees were encouraged to participate by the management, but participation was optional. We were not provided with a list of the theoretically employed staff, so we were unable to calculate a response rate. <br><br>A total of N = 308 employees (79.2% female, 19.9 % male, 1% diverse and 70.5 % aged older than 35 years), completed the standardized questionnaire. <br>Data were obtained by paper and pencil assessment with the first author present in the nursing home facility in order to answer questions if necessary. <br><br>The aim of the study was to analyze psychosocial risks at work in nursing homes (elderly care)