Qualitative Coding Table to Identify Themes and Sub-Themes during Content Analysis from: What good nurses in nursing homes look like: A qualitative study on the views of nursing home residents

Abstract

Background: With the rapidly aging population, the coexistence of chronic conditions has become increasingly common among older Chinese adults. In response to the rising burden of these conditions, more older adults in China are relocating to nursing homes (NHs). As Chinese nurses in NHs play a crucial role in residents’ health outcomes, their expectations and perceptions of nurse performance can critically reflect their satisfaction with nursing care. Thus, understanding Chinese NH residents’ views on nurses can facilitate the development of interventions to enhance their satisfaction with nursing services in China.

Objectives: To explore residents’ perceptions and expectations of nurses and indicate what good nurses look like in the NH setting. 

Methods: A semi-structured interview was conducted with a purposive sample of 11 older adults living in Chinese NHs for at least half a year. Content analysis was used for the qualitative research.

Results: Seven themes emerged from the interviews: Perception One: Individualized care; Perception Two: Psychological care; Perception Three: Pharmaceutical care; Perception Four: Nutritional care; Perception Five: Health monitoring; Perception Six: Resident-nurse communication; and Perception Seven: Increased interprofessional, residents and their family involvement.

Conclusion: From residents' perspectives, based on the resident-centered principle, good nurses should focus on providing psychological, pharmaceutical, and nutritional care and performing effective health monitoring. Adequate communication and collaboration between nurses and key stakeholders (nursing assistants, prescribers, dietitians, residents, and their families) is an important precondition for providing satisfactory care for residents. Notably, unclear job responsibilities in pharmaceutical and basic care would decrease residents' satisfaction with nurse performance. More strategies (e.g., health information technology) to help nurses meet resident-perceived expectations would need to be explored.

Keywords: good nurses, nursing homes, residents

Abbreviation: NHs=nursing homes