Who knows? Mobilization of Employee Knowledge in Nursing Homes

Abstract

In Norway, as in many other countries, professionalized elderly care faces a twin challenge: lack of competent labor combined with disinvestment in elderly care. Furthermore, while the number of elderly people in need of care is projected to rise over the coming decades, politicians are reluctant to commit more resources to the sector. Instead, innovation is seen as the solution. But in the policy debate on these issues, innovation is largely understood to be technological. This paper argues that the experience-based knowledge of assistants, healthcare professionals and nurses working in elderly care is an overlooked resource for innovation. By discussing three ways such knowledge is mobilized for innovation in nursing homes, we show that employee knowledge can help solve problems articulate under a logic of care, but also to solve problems traditionally thought of as belonging to the domain of management.