An exploration of what stakeholders reveal about personality traits and associated behaviours of registered nurses working in older people’s acute care settings

Background
Concern around poor standards of nursing care for older people in hospital has been explored in relation to workload and operational pressures. What is less evident from existing literature in this field is an explanation as to why nurses behave differently under the same pressures within the same concrete situations. Notions of personality traits and associated behaviours as possible influencers on nursing care delivery are variables that require consideration.
Aim
To critically explore behaviours of registered nursing staff working in older people's acute care settings from perspectives gathered from key stakeholders, and to identify whether there are any distinguishing personality traits that influence effective care delivery for older people.
Methodology
Using a constructivist grounded theory methodology, semi structured interviews were conducted to gather data from 12 stakeholder participants. Representation was from patient governors, carers and others from a nursing or relevant professional background. Data was analysed through a process of initial, focussed and finally theoretical coding.
Findings
Analysis of data gathered from stakeholders identified a rubric, describing specific behaviours aligned with associated trait headings. A range of behaviours were identified spanning between two distinct types of nursing staff. One group of nurses who work with older people are perceived to have no real desire to do so and in turn their care behaviours are perceived as ‘cold’ and task based. A second group of nurses are perceived as having a commitment to older people’s wellbeing and their behaviours lead to the delivery of care that is perceived as being highly skilled and compassionate.
A theoretical framework was constructed from this data analysis that identifies four key personality traits related to nursing behaviours. These are referred to as: conscientiousness, sociability, integrity and coping under a core category heading of ‘the authentic self’. Whilst authentic self is identified as being a direct influencer on how care is delivered, defined as the consequence, the influence of context is also taken into account.
Conclusion
This research offers new insights into four key personality traits and associated behavious displayed by nurses working in the acute older people’s healthcare setting and what effect these behaviours have on nursing care delivery, derived from perspectives of various older people’s nursing key stakeholders. Implications for healthcare practice are presented, which includes potential for further research that can inform the development of educational and recruitment strategies for older people’s nurses. This will ultimately have a positive impact on the quality of care older patients can expect to receive when in hospital.