Female caregivers’ perceptions of reasons for violent behaviour among nursing home residents

• • 
  Threats and violence against professional caregivers present a growing health and safety problem in elderly care.
• • 
  Caregivers attribute violent behaviour in the elderly to patient characteristics, caregiver approach and disorder in the environment.
• • 
  Caregivers involved in a violent situation should strive to see the person behind the behaviour and the frustration that may have prompted it, to understand what the behaviour is meant to communicate, and to tailor interventions to the individual.

Threats and violence against professional caregivers present a growing health and safety problem in elderly care. We aimed to explore female caregivers’ perceptions of reasons for violent behaviour among nursing home residents. Forty-one caregivers at three nursing homes were interviewed and their responses were subjected to qualitative content analysis, which revealed three content areas of perceived reasons for patient violence: patient characteristics, caregiver approach and environmental aspects. The caregivers’ perceptions were formulated in three core statements: ‘they (the residents) are not who they used to be’, ‘we (the caregivers) have acted inappropriately’ and ‘we (residents and caregivers) are all surrounded by disorder’. Our findings indicate that the reasons for violence are complex and multifactorial, so interventions should be individually tailored. Caregivers involved in a violent situation need to see the person behind the behaviour, try to interpret what the behaviour is meant to communicate and adjust the intervention according to individual need.