Interviews with Geriatric Nurses: Perceptions of Culture Change as Message Strategy

Abstract

There is a shortage of nurses to provide care in geriatric settings. About one-third of longterm care organizations have adopted a resident-first philosophy, also known as “culture change,” to address quality of care and staff working conditions. Through a phenomenological interview approach with two unique samples, this study uses an inductive means to explore nurses’ perceptions of a particular culture change philosophy known as the Eden Alternative. To better understand and explore the needs expressed by the nurses, the research uses Taylor’s Six- Segment Message Strategy Wheel as the analysis framework, since it identifies both the emotional/social and rational/logic elements that are used in making decisions. The Strategy Wheel framework allows exploration of participant perceptions to determine if culture change would be a useful message strategy to attract needed long-term care nurses.