Mid Sweden University

In this study our aim was to discover which different factors, “what” and“how”, affect the experience of security (or lack thereof) of female assistantnurses, working in a retirement home consisting of pensioners suffering fromdementia. The study was conducted through semi-structured interviews withsome of the female nurses, using a phenomenological methodology. Thetheoretical approach was based off three different theories. Firstly, we madeuse of Segestens theory regarding the actual feeling of security and secondly astructural and psychosocial theory, and thirdly a gender theory. The premisebeing that the social and structural aspects might be factors that generatefeelings of insecurity. The study found that the majority of the nurses perceivedit to be the same factors, affecting both the experience of security andinsecurity. The greatest factor generating a feeling of security was found to bethe social companionship of the nurses, where as the greatest factors generatinga feeling of insecurity, were found to be the insufficient staffing of theretirement home, as well as the pensioners suffering from dementia.