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Objective: Given the free movement of workers across countries, knowledge regarding communication differences between countries is imperative. In this study, we explored and compared the supportive responses of nursing staff to older persons' emotions in home care in Norway and Sweden., Methods: The study had an observational, cross-sectional, comparative design, which included 383 audio-recorded home-care visits. Communication was coded using Verona Coding Definitions of Emotional Sequences. Worries and responses were categorised with regard to reference, communicative function and level of person-centredness. Standard statistical tests were used to analyse the data., Results: The Swedish nursing staff provided space for further disclosure of worry more frequently than the Norwegian nursing staff (75.0 % versus 60.2 %, χ2 = 20.758, p < 0.01). In all, 65 % of the responses were supportive. Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that highly person-centred responses were independently associated with worries phrasing an emotion, OR (95 % CI) 3.282 (1.524-7.067)., Conclusion: The level of person-centredness was associated with the way in which older persons expressed their distress. The Swedish nursing staff provided opportunities for further disclosure of worries more frequently than the Norwegian nursing staff., Practice Implications: Findings of intercultural differences should be incorporated into the training of nursing staff., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Traditional nurse call systems used in residential care facilities rely on patients to summon assistance for routine or emergency needs. Wireless nurse call systems (WNCS) offer new affordances for persons unable to actively or consciously engage with the system, allowing detection of hazardous situations, prevention and timely treatment, as well as enhanced nurse workflows. This study aimed to explore facilitators and barriers of implementation of WNCSs in residential care facilities., Methods: The study had a cross-sectional descriptive design. We collected data from care providers (n = 98) based on the Measurement Instrument for Determinants of Innovation (MIDI) framework in five Norwegian residential care facilities during the first year of WNCS implementation. The self-reporting MIDI questionnaire was adapted to the contexts. Descriptive statistics were used to explore participant characteristics and MIDI item and determinant scores. MIDI items to which ≥20% of participants disagreed/totally disagreed were regarded as barriers and items to which ≥80% of participants agreed/totally agreed were regarded as facilitators for implementation., Results: More facilitators (n = 22) than barriers (n = 6) were identified. The greatest facilitators, reported by 98% of the care providers, were the expected outcomes: the importance and probability of achieving prompt call responses and increased safety, and the normative belief of unit managers. During the implementation process, 87% became familiar with the systems, and 86 and 90%, respectively regarded themselves and their colleagues as competent users of the WNCS. The most salient barriers, reported by 37%, were their lack of prior knowledge and that they found the WNCS difficult to learn. No features of the technology were identified as barriers., Conclusions: Overall, the care providers gave a positive evaluation of the WNCS implementation. The barriers to implementation were addressed by training and practicing technological skills, facilitated by the influence and support by the manager and the colleagues within the residential care unit. WNCSs offer a range of advanced applications and services, and further research is needed as more WNCS functionalities are implemented into residential care services.

Background: Responding to older people's distress by acknowledging or encouraging further discussion of emotions is central to supportive, person-centred communication, and may enhance home care outcomes and thereby promote healthy aging. This observational study describes nursing staff's responses to older people's emotional distress, and identify factors that encourage further emotional disclosure. Methods: Audio-recorded home care visits in Norway (n = 196), including 48 older people and 33 nursing staff, were analysed with the Verona Coding Definitions of Emotional Sequences, identifying expressions of emotional distress and subsequent provider responses. The inter-rater reliability (two coders), Cohen's kappa, was >0.6. Sum categories of emotional distress were constructed: a) verbal and non-verbal expressions referring to emotion, b) references to unpleasant states/circumstances, and c) contextual hints of emotion. A binary variable was constructed based on the VR response codes, differentiating between emotion-focused responses and responses that distanced emotion. Fisher's exact test was used to analyse group differences and determined variables included in a multivariate logistic regression analysis to identify factors promoting emotion-focused responses. Results: Older people's expressions of emotional distress (n = 635) comprised 63 explicit concerns and 572 cues. Forty-eight per cent of nursing staff responses (n = 638) were emotion-focused. Emotion-focused responses were observed more frequently when nursing staff elicited the expression of emotional distress from the patients (54%) than when patients expressed their emotional distress on their own initiative (39%). Expressions with reference to emotion most often received emotion-focused responses (60%), whereas references to unpleasant states or circumstances and contextual hints of emotion most often received non-emotion-focused responses (59%). In a multivariate logistic model, nursing staff's elicitation of the emotional expression (vs patients initiating it) and patients' expression with a reference to an emotion (vs reference to unpleasant states or contextual hints) were both explanatory variables for emotion-focused responses. Conclusions: Emotion-focused responses were promoted when nursing staff elicited the emotional expression, and when the patient expression referred to an emotion. Staff responded most often by acknowledging the distress and using moderately person-centred supportive communication. More research is needed to establish generalizability of the findings and whether older people deem such responses supportive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]