TITLE:
Norwegian Nursing Home—A Care Facility or a Home?
AUTHORS:
Wenche Malmedal
KEYWORDS:
Nursing Home, Total Institutions, Older Persons
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Nursing,
Vol.4 No.5,
April
24,
2014
ABSTRACT: This article focuses on the function of Norwegian nursing homes. A brief
history of institutionalisation of older people in Norway is presented. An
expressed task for Norwegian nursing homes is active treatment, and even though
the “Guarantee of dignity” was implemented from January 2011, there are proofs
that the rights of the residents are constantly violated. Another task for Norwegian
nursing homes is to be home for the residents. This double function of the
nursing home, being both a care facility and a home is discussed, and whether
the nursing homes succeed in fulfilling these tasks or not is questioned. It is
also questioned if Goffman’s descriptions of total institutions are applicable
on nursing homes of today.