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HRM Effectiveness in Older People's and Nursing Homes: The Search for Best (Quality) Practices

University of Antwerp

Erik Henderickx

University of Antwerp

This article presents an empirical evaluation of the human resources management (HRM) effectiveness in relation to quality of labor and quality of care in older people's and nursing homes. The authors suggest that innovative policies, in terms of HRM and work design, increase the likelihood of lower stress rates and higher scores on quality of care. The data supply little empirical evidence for this hypothesis, which means that innovative policy practices have very little effect on the realities of stress, burnout, and individually tailored care. A question that arises from this is whether the search for best practices is then equal to a measure for nothing. This is not the authors' opinion. The reference framework for research must be turned round. This can be achieved by no longer starting from the normative (practice) theory but starting instead with excellent practice, which can teach researchers important content and policy lessons.

Key Words: stress • burnout • individually tailored care • human recourses management • work design • older people's and nursing homes

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This version was published on December 1, 2007

Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Vol. 36, No. 4, 549-571 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0899764006296051


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by De Prins, P. Articles by Henderickx, E. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?