Social Support — a challenge for care nurses working with the elderly

Introduction. Social support is a significant aspect of caring for seniors.

Aim. An evaluation of the level of support provided by the nurse to seniors resident in nursing homes, and an analysis of its relationship with the style of coping with stress.

Material and methods. The study group comprised 50 retired people over 60 years of age who were resident in one of the nursing homes in Lodz. The study employed a survey questionnaire designed by the author, the Berlin Social Support Scale and the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations.

Results and conclusions. The residents were provided with the highest level of emotional support and lowest level of informative support. The level of social support provided was greater than demand for support and subjective evaluation of availability of support. In fact, receiving informative support correlates with a task-orientated style of coping with stress. Perceived available emotional and instrumental support tends to demonstrate an avoidance style of coping with stress.

The nursing staff represents a significant source of support for seniors resident in a nursing home. The range of social support provided by the nurse is greater than declared need and anticipated availability of help. The quality and form of nursing care differentiates the evaluation of the level of social support given by the care recipient. The form of social care was found to be associated with adaptive and maladaptive styles of coping with stress. A higher level of informative support was found to be associated with task-orientated of coping with stress. In addition, emotional and instrumental support correlate with an avoidance style.