CRITIQUE

Abstract

A nursing study dealing with both geriatrics and the nurse's concept of "role" is timely and of utmost importance. The purpose of the study as well as the term "nursing personnel or staff" are somewhat vague and ambiguous. Seguin Langlois refers to Barney's research (1974) where it is noted that only the nurse maintains a statistically significant contact with the institutionalized elderly; she does not, however, involve nurses in her own study. The sample size of five residents and five staff members precludes generalization of the results; however, since the author is mainly interested the inter-personal relationship of the provider and the client, the limited sample size seems acceptable. Utilization of the Bales Interaction Analysis Process Record is hazardous due to the inherent difficulty in differentiating among what could be considered to be confounding behavioural variables. Seguin Langlois's results seem plausible but, in my opinion, the tasks selected for analyzing the interactions between the residents and the staff members are, in themselves, expressions of dependency. Indeed, to be fed, washed, and positioned are requirements of the infant and precede the development of autonomy. Infants, in seeking affection, respond to the expectations of the environment: the resulting parallel between infancy and the residents' expressions of solidarity is both troubling and intriguing. Similarly, staff members may associate these tasks with those performed for the infant which, in turn, may introduce a variable affecting their behaviour. For these reasons, I strongly support Seguin Langlois's recommendation that attitudes of care providers toward the elderly be considered an integral component of the providers educational programme.