<p>The dissertation <i>What to do and how to be</i> reflects upon the professional skills needed by unit managers and nursing staff within the institutions of eldercare. Throughout the study, three conceptions are essential: formal education and training, professional skills, and individual competence. In order to understand the professional skills within its proper context, an activity perspective has been applied.</p><p>The study is based on empirical materials, historical and present national and municipal documents, interviews with and observations of unit managers as well as questionnaires filled in by nursing staff members.</p><p>A main result is the stress the respondents put on the importance of individual competence among unit managers and nursing staff members. “How to be” is more important than formal training and professional skills. To work with – and develop – individual competence therefore becomes momentous both to job activities and to education. The result shows a discrepancy between the way professional skills are discussed and the actual work performance. A lot of tasks carried out by unit managers and nursing stuff are never mentioned in connection with professional skills. The unit manager’s task is to lead both unit operations and staff work. Such responsibilities demand basic knowledge in social sciences, an overall understanding of the work activities from political management, job conditions and duties of the nursing staff.</p><p>The professional skills given priority are those present in organisations and leadership. Problematic are economic and budget tasks which may sometimes cause unit managers to give up their economic responsibility, favouring client – directed over economy – directed care.</p><p>The main task of the nursing staff is the care of elderly. It calls for social, caring, medical and housekeeping skills. For this one needs an upper secondary level education supplying the students with solid knowledge within social science as well as basic medicine and an overall understanding of the situation and needs of the elderly. Throughout the study, knowledge of the demented and of other mental disorders is emphasized as well as treatment of elderly persons suffering from those disorders. Units still have a long way to go before reaching the goal that every nursing staff member be given a formal education. Some municipalities already offer employees shorter nursing staff training. As to the rest, the educational development is neglected.</p>

The dissertation What to do and how to be reflects upon the professional skills needed by unit managers and nursing staff within the institutions of eldercare. Throughout the study, three conceptions are essential: formal education and training, professional skills, and individual competence. In order to understand the professional skills within its proper context, an activity perspective has been applied. The study is based on empirical materials, historical and present national and municipal documents, interviews with and observations of unit managers as well as questionnaires filled in by nursing staff members. A main result is the stress the respondents put on the importance of individual competence among unit managers and nursing staff members. “How to be” is more important than formal training and professional skills. To work with – and develop – individual competence therefore becomes momentous both to job activities and to education. The result shows a discrepancy between the way professional skills are discussed and the actual work performance. A lot of tasks carried out by unit managers and nursing stuff are never mentioned in connection with professional skills. The unit manager’s task is to lead both unit operations and staff work. Such responsibilities demand basic knowledge in social sciences, an overall understanding of the work activities from political management, job conditions and duties of the nursing staff. The professional skills given priority are those present in organisations and leadership. Problematic are economic and budget tasks which may sometimes cause unit managers to give up their economic responsibility, favouring client – directed over economy – directed care. The main task of the nursing staff is the care of elderly. It calls for social, caring, medical and housekeeping skills. For this one needs an upper secondary level education supplying the students with solid knowledge within social science as well as basic medicine and an overall understanding of the situation and needs of the elderly. Throughout the study, knowledge of the demented and of other mental disorders is emphasized as well as treatment of elderly persons suffering from those disorders. Units still have a long way to go before reaching the goal that every nursing staff member be given a formal education. Some municipalities already offer employees shorter nursing staff training. As to the rest, the educational development is neglected.

Uppsatsen bygger på begreppet ”Positive Deviance” och dess förändringsmetoder till att positivt förändra individers tillvägagångssätt och prestationer på arbetsplatsen. Metoderna förespråkar att befintliga positiva avvikares arbetssätt ska identifieras, analyseras och appliceras på resten av individerna i samma grupp via en ”bottom-up” process. Det med avsikten att skapa en bestående och lönsammare lösning som annars vanliga konventionella förändringsmetoder inte brukar lyckas åstadkomma. Med en abduktiv ansats och en kvalitativ fallstudie som innefattar sex semi-strukturerade intervjuer med ledare på ett kundserviceföretag så har flera likheter liksom skillnader upptäckts gentemot förespråkade förändringsmetoder. Ledarna har uttryckligen identifierat de positiva avvikarna men har sedan i appliceringsstadiet indirekt valt att begränsa sina verktyg. Skulle ledarna ha beslutsamheten och viljan att vidareutveckla och skräddarsy sina nuvarande förändringsmetoder gentemot förespråkade så finns det utrymme till det.