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Chapter 5 Findings
needs room (used for sick residents or dying residents). All wards and rooms had
one wash-hand basin. The day room was opposite the nurse’s station and not far
from the front door, which could be opened by a key code. The day room was
bright and had a high ceiling. It had many chairs (typical hospital-style arm
chairs) lining the walls, which the residents sat on throughout various parts of the
day. The day room was usually fuller and busier in the morning to early
afternoon than it was in the evening. In the day room there was a fish tank, a TV
and a traditional dresser, and the walls were decorated with pictures painted by
the residents, and pictures and literature about past times. In the centre of the
room was a large table where some residents sat for their meals. On the right side
of the corridor was a nurse’s station (mostly occupied by the ward clerk, a very
small space and used mainly to store folders with policies, etc. and nursing notes
– report was given in the staff room, which could facilitate more people and had
seating), a sister’s office, a medication store room, a staff shower room and
toilet, two shower/bath rooms, a clinical room, a sluice room, a laundry room and
a residents’ smoking room. The walls of the corridor contained more paintings
and art work completed by the residents, along with thank-you cards and letters
from residents’ family members. Each ward had a TV (usually provided by
families) and some residents had their own radio and had decorated their
bedsides with photographs and personal memorabilia. Each resident had a small
single bedside locker/wardrobe. The overall look of the research unit was that of
a traditional hospital ward. Each resident had a bed space and spaces between
beds were divided by curtains when moments of privacy were required. This
space was small, and when staff needed to use extra equipment like hoists and
linen trolleys the wards would become cluttered in a matter of seconds (see floor
plan in Appendix 13).
5.3 Staff Profile
Demographic data were gathered from all staff on the research unit. This
included their age, qualifications, contracted hours and length of time working on
the unit. When the research was conducted the site had 34 staff members (head
count) which comprised 1 x clinical nurse manager (Grade 2, whole time
equivalent (WTE)), 1 x clinical nurse manager (Grade 1, WTE), 18 x staff nurses