Nurses' Management of Nursing Home Residents' Remaining Functional Ability: Concept Development

Abstract

Purpose: Nurses' management of Nursing Home residents' remaining functional ability is phenomena emphasizing as the main practice focus in long term care and has specific meanings within the context of quality of life for fragile and disabled elderly people in nursing homes. This study was conducted to clarify and to conceptualize the phenomena of nurses' management of nursing home residents' remaining functional ability. Method: The Hybrid Model of concept development was applied to develop a concept of nurses' management of residents' remaining functional ability. Results: This concept of nurse' management emerged as a phenomenon having meanings in two different dimensions, deliberation and enactment for five types of residents: residents with declining function and dementia requiring nursing assistance, bedridden residents with moderate dementia, residents with advanced dementia and behavior problems, but good physical health, residents at the end of life stage, and bedridden residents with intact mental health. Conclusions: Results indicate that nurses' management of remaining functional ability of residents in nursing homes is a concept having types of needs that should be treated in specified ways. Interventions should have a positive impacts on practical applications in nursing homes and on enhancing residents' remaining function.

Nurses’ clinical decision‐making for preserving nursing home residents’ remaining abilities

“…Therefore, nursing care focusing on NH residents’ remaining functional abilities is an emerging phenomenon emphasised in long‐term care facilities and has a specific meaning within the context of quality of life for the fragile and disabled older persons in Korean nursing homes (Lim et al . ). Residents with physical‐cognitive functional decline require nursing care for preserving their remaining abilities.…”

“…Lim et al . () categorised NH residents into five types according to functional ability classification: (1) residents with declining physical and cognitive functions requiring partial nursing assistance, (2) bedridden residents with moderate dementia, (3) residents with advanced dementia and behaviour problems but good physical health, (4) residents at the end of life stage and (5) bedridden residents with intact mental health. Based on the categorisation of the NH residents, this study focused the residents with declining physical and cognitive functions requiring partial nursing assistance (the first type of residents).…”

Function‐focused care programme for older people in Korean long‐term care facilities

“…In the case of Korea, admission to LTCs involves assessments of older people's daily life abilities. However, at these facilities, while range‐of‐motion (ROM) exercise or physical activity programmes with a nurse are partially carried out, there are no effective guidelines to maintain their remaining working function (Lim et al, ). Therefore, the present authors developed and tested a nurse‐led FFC programme called the Korean Function‐Focused Care Programme (K‐FFCP) for older people in LTCs to maintain and enhance their remaining function.…”

Examining practical nursing experiences to discover ways in which to retain and invigorate the remaining functions of the elderly with a demented and complex disability in nursing homes

“…Many residents in nursing homes come under care levels 1 and 5, according to the grading assessment criteria of the national insurance systems in Korea and Japan, respectively (Gaugler, Yu, Krichbaum, & Wyman, 2009;Helvik, Engedal, Benth, & Selbaek, 2015;National Health Insurance System, 2016;Takai & Uchida, 2009), which means that they partially or completely depend on nurses for their activities of daily living (ADLs) (i.e. eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, walking, and continence) due to severe and complex disabilities in both physical and cognitive functions (Kashiwagi, Tamiya, Sato, & Yano, 2013;Lim et al, 2014). For instance, a bedridden status with moderateto-severe dementia is a representative symptom in this group.…”