TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding Adaptive Leadership in the Context of Nursing Homes
AU - Wang, Jing
AU - Anderson, Ruth
AU - Perez, Janelle Santos
AU - Estabrooks, Carole A.
AU - Berta, Whitney
AU - Lanham, Holly J.
AU - Duan, Yinfei
AU - Iaconi, Alba
AU - Beeber, Anna
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.
PY - 2024/10
Y1 - 2024/10
N2 - Rapidly growing populations of older adults rely heavily on formal long-term care services such as those provided in nursing homes. Nursing home staff are confronted with complex challenges. We explored how staff (N = 88), particularly care aides, interpreted challenges and responded to them by taking adaptive leadership roles, and engaging in technical and adaptive work in nursing homes. We conducted analysis of the ethnographic case studies. In long-term care settings, staff face complex challenges in improving resident care due to contextual barriers. These include demanding work conditions and inadequate resources. Additionally, top-down communications, despite being well-intentioned, often lead to misinterpretation and a lack of staff motivation. Nonetheless, we found that certain staff managed to overcome these contextual barriers and effectively execute change initiatives by assuming adaptive leadership roles. Formal leaders have a vital role in empowering staff, including care aides, and facilitating their adaptive leadership behaviors.
AB - Rapidly growing populations of older adults rely heavily on formal long-term care services such as those provided in nursing homes. Nursing home staff are confronted with complex challenges. We explored how staff (N = 88), particularly care aides, interpreted challenges and responded to them by taking adaptive leadership roles, and engaging in technical and adaptive work in nursing homes. We conducted analysis of the ethnographic case studies. In long-term care settings, staff face complex challenges in improving resident care due to contextual barriers. These include demanding work conditions and inadequate resources. Additionally, top-down communications, despite being well-intentioned, often lead to misinterpretation and a lack of staff motivation. Nonetheless, we found that certain staff managed to overcome these contextual barriers and effectively execute change initiatives by assuming adaptive leadership roles. Formal leaders have a vital role in empowering staff, including care aides, and facilitating their adaptive leadership behaviors.
KW - adaptive challenges
KW - adaptive work
KW - care aides
KW - leadership behaviors
KW - technical work
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U2 - 10.1177/07334648241243312
DO - 10.1177/07334648241243312
M3 - Article
C2 - 38566520
AN - SCOPUS:85189972334
SN - 0733-4648
VL - 43
SP - 1524
EP - 1535
JO - Journal of Applied Gerontology
JF - Journal of Applied Gerontology
IS - 10
ER -