Mid Sweden University

Purpose: To explore the concept of nursing homes as attractive workplaces perceived by staff and interpreted through the lens of the Magnet Model®.

Methodology: Two workshops with staff from two departments at a nursing home and one workshop with registered nurses, occupational therapists and physiotherapists were held to explore attractive workplaces. Additionally, interviews were conducted with 12 registered nurses, occupational therapists and physiotherapists in another municipality. For the analysis, the authors combined all of the text from the workshops and the interviews and analysed it versus the five core components from the Magnet Model®: 1) transformational leadership, 2) structural empowerment, 3) exemplary professional practice, 4) new knowledge, innovation, and improvements, and 5) empirical quality results as a deductive frame of analysis.

Findings: The analysis revealed how the staff perceived nursing homes as attractive workplaces through the lens of the Magnet Model®. When sorting the material versus the five core components, all the components contributed attractive workplace examples even though innovation and improvements had the fewest examples and empirical quality results the second least.

Research limitations/implications: This study was limited to staff from one nursing home and all registered nurses, occupational therapists and physiotherapists in another municipality. Further research can be conducted at several nursing homes to explore their view of attractive workplaces. 

Originality/Value: The originality of this research is the use of the Magnet model to analyse an attractive workplace in nursing homes within a municipality context.