PhD conferral Ms Nienke O. Kuk, MSc.

“Moving forward in nursing home practice; supporting nursing staff in implementing innovations”

Keywords: nursing home, exercise, innovation, implementation

This dissertation studied the best way to support nurses in the implementation of innovations in nursing homes. The study focussed on the stimulation of exercise in daily care. It shows that carers and nurses do not always stimulate exercise when providing daily care. The extent to which stimulation takes place is shown to be associated with support and communication. When implementing innovations, it is important for nurses to use a structured approach. The so-called TIP toolbox was developed for this purpose. This dissertation shows that the TIP toolbox is suitable for application in practice. The study also shows the importance of nurses collaborating with others and receiving support from all levels of the organisation when implementing changes.

The study described in this thesis was part of the Nurses on the Move project from the Academic Collaborative Centre on Care for Older People in South-Limburg and was financed by ZonMw.