School of Nursing and Center on Aging and the Life Course, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
School of Nursing, National University of Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
J Adv Nurs. 2021 May;77(5):2481-2497. doi: 10.1111/jan.14792. Epub 2021 Feb 19.
To examine the role of Adult Protective Services' (APS's) nurses in helping abused, neglected and exploited older people, this study investigated how nurses' contribution differs from social workers. Though the majority of APS' workforce is staffed by social workers, some programmes also employ nurses.
Secondary data analysis using convergent parallel mixed-method design was conducted.
Using survey data from the National Adult Protective Services Association, 99 nurses' responses between October 2014 and August 2015 were analysed to examine their agency characteristics, training and qualities, job responsibilities and interprofessional collaboration.
The majority of nurses work with social workers or other professionals using a multidisciplinary team (MDT) approach. Among those carrying a caseload, 69% (49 out of 71) of nurses work in conjunction with social workers. Out of all nurses, 64% (63 out of 99) indicated participation in at least one MDT. While the responsibilities nurses provided were similar to social workers, nurses were also able to provide healthcare related services, in their professional competencies, without referral.
Nurses in APS are in a privileged position to investigate mistreatment and provide/coordinate direct care for victims.
Not much was known about nurses who directly investigate elder mistreatment and provide services to victims. This study was the first to highlight the nursing workforce in APS, and described the nurses' unique contribution to the field. Nurses functioned as both social workers and healthcare professionals in APS. Since victims of elder mistreatment often suffer from negative physical, psychological and social consequences, having nurses in APS benefits victims to receive and the programmes in providing better care and services.
探讨成人保护服务（APS）护士在帮助受虐待、忽视和剥削的老年人方面的作用，本研究调查了护士的贡献如何与社会工作者的贡献不同。尽管 APS 的大多数工作人员都是社会工作者，但一些项目也雇用护士。
采用平行混合方法进行二次数据分析。
使用全国成人保护服务协会的调查数据，对 2014 年 10 月至 2015 年 8 月期间的 99 名护士的回应进行分析，以考察他们的机构特征、培训和素质、工作职责和跨专业合作。
大多数护士与社会工作者或其他专业人员合作，采用多学科团队（MDT）方法。在承担案件的人员中，69%（49 名中的 69 名）护士与社会工作者合作。在所有护士中，64%（99 名中的 64 名）表示至少参加过一次 MDT。虽然护士提供的职责与社会工作者相似，但护士也能够在其专业能力范围内提供与医疗保健相关的服务，而无需转介。
APS 中的护士处于调查虐待行为并为受害者提供/协调直接护理的有利地位。
人们对直接调查老年虐待行为并为受害者提供服务的护士了解甚少。本研究首次强调了 APS 中的护理人员队伍，并描述了护士在该领域的独特贡献。护士在 APS 中既是社会工作者，也是医疗保健专业人员。由于受虐待的老年人通常遭受身体、心理和社会后果的负面影响，因此 APS 中的护士对受害者获得和方案提供更好的护理和服务有益。
