Introduction
The increasing number of ill elderly or frail elderly is a significant challenge in western countries. The elders can be given care by the parents at homes and sometimes by nurses. The problem is mainly found in western nations that have developed homes for elderly people. The number of the patients is increasing thus reducing the bed spaces in the available hospitals, hence forcing many of the families to take care of their patient at homes. Paying for the forma care caregiving can be too expensive for most families and hence with improved education and awareness the care can be given at home. This raises the issue of studying the relationship between the normal formal caregivers and the family caregivers.
Background
There are different research questions that were formulated for the purpose of carrying out the study. The respondents involved in the study were questioned about their relationship between them and caregivers. They were also required to state whether they have any conflict with the formal nurses in the process of taking care of their patients. If yes, they were to explain the cause of the conflicts. The researchers formulated the certain hypothesis that was to be proven correct or wrong. They include, there arises a conflict between formal caregiver and informal caregiver if their expertise is ignored. The other hypothesis is that most people believe that formal caregiving is the best. The study was based on the theory of socialist feminist perspective of caring that views female caregiving as highly professional and emotional compared to masculine caregiving.
Methods of Study
The article used the qualitative data to illustrate the relationship between the family caregivers and the formal caregivers. The results obtained from the qualitative study are analyzed to give a detailed result about the relationship. The research design chosen was efficient to ensure that the research problem was properly covered. The researcher met the sample of the respondents from which he was to collect the data for the analysis. The patients were aware of the intention of the research to ensure that they gave accurate responses. The sample selected for the analysis was appropriate and consisted of 23 family-nurse caregivers who were obtained from a non- profit nursing agency funded by the public.
All the participants were female except one. Their data were taken for analysis. They followed a unique procedure where all the participants were interviewed each given average of 45 minutes.
Results of study
The results revealed that the relationship between the family caregivers and community nurses was very complicated. There were four different types of relationships identified. They include nurse helper, a manager, nurse-patient, and worker-worker relationship. The relationship had different implications for the study. The results identify an exploitive relationship between the professional caregivers. They show that the both caregivers contribute equally toward the client care. The contribution of the study to the nursing showed that both caregivers should be treated with importance. They impacted on the nursing fields with their help the players understand that the activity that is carried out in hospitals can as well be carried out at home which is cheaper.
Ethical Considerations
Before the conduct of the research, a proposal of the research was sent to Institutional Review Board (IRB) for approval. All the research dealing with human subjects must be approved by the IRB before they can take place. Privacy of the participants interviewed was protected and cannot be revealed to the public. Revealing the identity of the patients would be against the policies of the Board. It aims at ensuring that human subjects involved in the study are protected of their rights, wellbeing, and their welfare. Revealing the identity would be a breach of the patients’ rights according to the IRB. There were ethical conditions regarding the treatment of the patients in a way that they could not identify the patients’ caregivers dealt with were suffering from.
Conclusion
In conclusion, both family caregivers and the community nurses played an important role in taking care of the senior citizens. All the activities that are undertaken at the hospital can as well be done at home, thus the government saving public expenditure. To reduce the conflicts that exist between community nurses and family caregivers, nurses should respect the expertise of the family givers.
References
Ward-Griffin, C., & McKeever, P. (2005). Relationships between Nurses and Family Caregivers: Partners in Care? ADVANCES IN NURSING SCIENCE, 45-60.
