The Effects of Residents’ Violence and Coping Behavior on Job Satisfaction among Care Workers in Nursing Homes for Older Adults: An Approach Using Mixed Methods Research

Abstract

As to abuse in social welfare facilities, not only client abuse by employees but also employee abuse by clients has been recognized as a critical problem. This study pays attention to employee abuse by residents and starts with a perception that this problem can affect the supply and demand of care workers in nursing homes for older adults. This study aims to analyze the effects of residents’ violence against care workers and care workers’ coping behavior on their job satisfaction in nursing homes for older adults, using a mixed methods approach. To this end, this study analyzed 419 care workers (49.2%) who experienced violence and participated in a national survey on long-term care in 2019 by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. In addition, to supplement the quantitative analysis, in-depth interviews were conducted with 5 care workers and 3 managers. As for the experience of residents’ violence among care workers, 78.8% of physical violence, 77.6% of verbal violence, and 35.8% of sexual violence were reported, and the most common coping behavior to residents’ violence was ‘to endure and keep working’ (73.5%). Regression analysis showed that among types of violence, the experience of sexual violence appeared to be negative to job satisfaction at a statistically significant level (p<.05). In terms of coping methods, ‘reporting to external authorities’ or ‘just enduring and continuing work’ was also found to have a negative impact (p<.05). The results of the interview may indicate the routinization and educationalization of residents’ violence. When combined with those qualitative analyses, this study implies that prevention of residents’ violence is the best countermeasure, while once an violence occurs, active protection and appropriate response by the management are necessary.