Operational manager’s perceptions and interventions for work-related stress concerning nurse assistants who work in elderly home care

Abstract: Work-related stress can be recognized as a widespread phenomenon that influences individuals, organizations, and society. Stress and work-related stress are complex issues that involve and are influenced by different factors at different levels. This exploratory study aimed to get a deeper understanding of operational managers' perceived assumptions regarding work-related stress for nurse assistants who work in elderly home care in different municipalities. Additionally, this thesis attempted to identify the municipalities’ organizational and individual interventions and investigate how they evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions. Applying the qualitative method with deductive reasoning and using semi-structured interviews (N=5) resulted in two core categories “multiple dimensions of stress and stress interventions” and “lack of effective tools”. The operational managers expressed that there is continuous a challenge to getting more budget from government to implement more effective interventions, however, they claimed that individuals' lifestyles and situations can not be ignored. Moreover, analyzing respondents’ interviews indicated that there is a lack of effective tools to evaluate organizational effectiveness. Finally, according to all respondents, municipalities do not have regular leadership training for unit managers or healthy workshops for nurse assistants to promote healthy working conditions. This study highlighted the importance of interdisciplinary approaches in investigating work-related studies including political power relations and economic contexts.