Caring for profit: Alienation and work stress in nursing assistants in Canada

Abstract

Personal care work in proprietary nursing homes was contrasted with similar work in non-profit long-term care facilities. One quarter of Manitoba long-stay beds are operated by proprietary (profit-making) institutions. In both types of home, the nursing assistants were younger women with children; essential wage earners for their families. Wages were low, but nursing assistants said they worked because they liked taking care of elderly people. Nursing home residents have cognitive and mobility impairments and need help with activities of daily living. The proportion of cognitively-impaired residents is higher in profit-making homes, and probably contributed to job pressure and workload, which were taken as markers of potential alienation experienced by these workers.