Role perceptions of auxiliary nurses: An exploratory study

Abstract

Auxiliary nurses may form a necessary part of current nursing teams, but how clear are they about their roles, capabilities and limitations? The project described in this paper was divided into two phases: Phase 1 involved interviews with auxiliary nurses and corresponding G grade nurses; Phase two involved distribution of questionnaires to over 350 auxiliary nurses in nine hospitals across the Yorkshire region. This paper focuses on Phase 2 only. The questionnaire was developed from both the literature and Phase I results. The final section of the questionnaire was an adaptation of a series of questions developed from a tool devised by Rhodes (1985) to identify areas of decision-making in qualified nurses. Through use of an assessment scale for qualified staff, clarification of decision-making, both actual and potential, would be highlighted.

The results from the adapted scale seem strongly to suggest that not only are auxiliary nurses making decisions that were previously made by qualified nurses, but that an even larger number feel they ought to be making more. The results further suggest that 50% of auxiliary nurses attaining NVQ Level 2 standard still gained most of their knowledge through observing others.