Nursing home aides: saints or monsters?

In-depth fieldwork in a New York City nursing home shows that most aides were neither saints nor monsters. Only a small minority were consistently cruel, on the one hand, or consistently warm and supportive, on the other. While there were many instances of harsh treatment of patients, most nursing aides were kind and helpful to residents most of the time. Indeed, many aides established relations with patients that they and the patients found gratifying.