Contributions & Limitations

Conclusion

This goal of this study was to provide a picture of emotion labor within the context of a nursing home. Specifically, the case study approach demonstrated how organizational members who are employed at the management level of the organization convey, confirm, and negotiate emotion labor differently than the employees who report to management. To do so, this paper summarized the relevant literature, described the methodology, reported the results, and finally, highlighted the study’s implications. Next, this study will conclude by describing how this paper contributes to the current knowledge on emotion labor, discussing the limitations of the study, and explaining how these limitations present opportunities for future research.

Contributions. This examination of emotion labor in a nursing home raises practical concerns for organizations that care for frail elderly and the employees who experience emotion labor in their workplace. First, given the high levels of burnout and turnover of nursing home staff, the discussion of stress in this study is particularly pertinent for future researchers. Like X expressed in Case Study X, the relationships with management and staff can often be more stressful than working with the residents. This finding is not unique to this study. In an in-depth analysis of cruise ship workers, Tracy (2000) found that cruise staff often found escape from their personal life in their “front-stage performances” (p. 121). Therefore, future researchers should continue to investigate how this escape changes the organizational experience of nursing home employees and the potential relationship it may have with the levels of burnout and turnover in nursing homes.

Second, this analysis uncovered a lack of clarity on where and when nursing home staff could talk about personal matters. Like X conveyed in Case Study X, she often found talking about her personal life with the residents was a way to connect and form relationships with residents. Similarly, Tracy (2000) found that cruise staff often discussed “confusion about the boundaries between front stage and backstage” (p. 121). A practical concern for nursing homes may be more complete guidelines and training on what is appropriate to talk about with residents. Additionally, nursing homes may reconsider the amount of area in the nursing home that is dedicated only to staff. (Insert example from participant here.) Furthermore, the connection and relationship with residents was extremely encouraged at this nursing home; therefore, future researchers should examine the complex interaction between nursing home staff and residents.

Limitations. A limitation of this study lies in the case study method. While this method presented a detailed look at lived experience of nursing home employees, it is difficult to generalize the experiences of these participants across other nursing homes. Our understanding of emotion labor within the context of a nursing home would be enhanced through future research with a larger subject pool in a variety of health care institutions.