The conflicted surrogate syndrome: implications for nursing facility work force stress, safety, and turnover.

摘要

When a loved one is admitted to a nursing facility, family members usually experience a variety of emotions. Feelings of guilt, fear, and distrust are common. The facility staff must make every effort to engage the family and establish trust to forge a constructive collaboration in the care of the nursing facility resident. Even with conscientious and compassionate staff efforts to establish an alliance with family members, however, maladaptive family responses can occur. Kidder and Smith have analyzed maladaptive family responses characterized by excessive complaint behaviors and have proposed that this constitutes a recognizable syndrome they named "The Conflicted Surrogate Syndrome." This article proposes diagnostic criteria for the syndrome, presents 3 cases meeting the criteria, and offers suggestions for early recognition and intervention.