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Nursing home reform, Professor Farmer asserts, calls for increased emphasis upon issues related to life rather than care. Organizational climate, which reflects the nursing home's unique position to impact life issues, provides a conceptual framework for effective interventions, evaluations, and ultimately meaningful reform.
The general atmosphere of most nursing homes remains overwhelmingly negative in spite of those few homes that are credited with excellence. Professor Farmer believes that the concept of organizational climate holds promise for better understanding the complexities and impact of atmosphere in any one nursing home. At the same time, organizational climate as a concept is poorly understood. There is a need to rethink the concept and return to the original notion of weather as its metaphor. Farmer attempts this in her case study by describing organizational climate where it can best be captured.
Practitioners of long-term care, from the fields of administration, geronotology, nursing, nutrition, policy makers, occupational and physical therapy, social work, and therapeutic recreation will find the insights of this study of great value, as will graduate students, scholars, and others concerned with organizational studies and issues in gerontology.
List of contents
Acknowledgments
The Organizational Climate of the Meadows of MadisonWeather as Metaphor for Organizational Climate
The Meadows of Madison
Major Climate Elements of the Meadows of MadisonEssential Structure of a "Nice Place"
Core Values of a "Nice Place"
Dominant Processes of "A Nice Place to Be If You Have to Be Here"
Identified Determinants of the Organizational Climate of the Meadows of Madison
A Study of ContrastsAnalysis
Conclusions
Appendix A: Perspectives of Aging
Appendix B: Review of the Literature: The Nursing Home
Appendix C: Review of the Literature: Organizational Climate
Appendix D: An Ethnographic Design for the Study of Organizational Climate in a Nursing Home
Bibliography
Index
About the author
BONNIE CASHIN FARMER is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, CT. Her previous appointments include university teaching positions and practice at the municipal, county, and state levels of health care.
