[Effects on carers caring for residents who are limited in their everyday capabilities. A comparison of several measuring points in a pilot study].

According to the section 87b SGB XI (German Social Security Statutes) care worker guidelines, care institutions can employ additional carers for residents who are permanently limited in their everyday capabilities. Studies on the stress experience while caring for the elderly who relate specifically to the additional care givers have, until now, not been available. Previous studies relate to trained nurses. It can be assumed that, if trained nurses already show typical stress reactions, the care givers could be all the more overburdened. For surveying the effects on care givers caring for residents who are limited in their everyday capabilities, an empirical data investigation using the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) was carried out on 30 care givers qualified according to the above mentioned guidelines in nine nursing homes administrated by Curanum AG. Additionally, the study took place in two residential homes of other administrators. As a comparison, 30 nurses were investigated. In the time span from the start of professional conduct until the end of the survey after six months, significant differences in the examined nurses were found only for the item Job Security (p < or = 0.05). In the group of section-87b-carers it was possible to show significant changes in the following items: possibilities for development (p 0.05), influence (p < or = 0.05), social support (p < or = 0.05), feedback (p < or = 0.05) and social-relationship p < or = 0.05). In summary, the psycho-social stress experiences of the section-87b-carers were determined to be considerably worse than those of the professionally qualified nurses, which could be due to the fact that section-87b-carers are less well trained than the professionally qualified nurses after their three years of training. The section-87b-carers continuously look after residents, who are considerably limited in their everyday capabilities, whereas the professionally qualified nurses look after a mixed group of residents. The study thus provides an indication that the use of section-87b-carers--at least from the viewpoint of the people concerned--leads to a tendency of overburdening and therefore, with the current training and accompaniment provided during employment, does not represent a reasonable and sustainable enhancement to everyday life in the nursing residents.