Person-Centered Caregiving Instruction for Geriatric Nursing Assistant Students: Development and Evaluation

This research describes the development and evaluation of a 2-hour program that taught geriatric nursing assistant students person-centered caregiving skills. The person centeredness of caregiving skills among students who completed the training, as well as those who did not, was evaluated by coding their videotaped interactions with a standardized long-term care resident. Residents reported more satisfaction with students who had completed the special training, although there was little difference between the actual behavior of students in the intervention and control conditions. Students' interpersonal cognitive complexity was associated with their ability to provide care in person-centered ways.