Tillgänglighet, meningsfullhet och utsatthet : En kvalitativ studie om hur enhetschefer inom äldreomsorgen upplever och hanterar sin yrkesroll

Sammanfattning: Elderly care and its first-line managers are an essential part of social work. As the demographic changes since the demands for efficiency in elderly care are increasing. The profession of the first-line managers is complex. They need to make well-balanced priorities for the good of the organizations and the wellbeing of patients and employees. Based on that our study aims at increasing the knowledge about how first-line managers of elderly care experience and handle their profession. Furthermore the study aims to explore how support around first-line managers can look like and how they achieve balance between their profession and private life. To answer the aim of the study six semi-structured interviews were performed with first-line managers, who are active in elderly care, equally many men as women. The first-line managers are active in publicly organized elderly care in three municipalities in southern Sweden. The results show that the first-line managers experience of their profession is positive, all of them experiencing a meaningfulness. However, the results show that the first-line managers are experiencing demands of availability and the management position in itself implies an exposure. Based on this study, we can conclude that the six first-line managers included in this study perceive their profession as stimulating and meaningful, which is also in line with previous research. Only two of six first-line managers have negative experiences related to their profession. The first-line managers use both work experience as well as a functioning support structure to handle the demands and expectations. In order to achieve a balance between profession and private life the professional distance to their employees is crucial.