Perceptions and experiences of person-centered care among nurses and nurse aides in long term residential care facilities: A systematic review of qualitative studies

•The gap between person-centered care (PCC) practice and knowledge is mostly related to organizational barriers (low staff ratios, lack of caregiver motivation and team feeling, being less recognized by managers, lack of ongoing training and support).•Holistic understanding of the resident is a main contributor for sustaining relationships and participation.•Teamwork, being recognized by managers, ongoing PCC training were raised as very important issues for improving PCC practices. The aim of this study is to report the findings of meta-synthesis of the experiences and perceptions of person-centered care among nurses and nurse aides in long term care facilities to help managers and policy makers in providing and improving health services. This is a meta-synthesis of qualitative studies guided by seven steps process of meta-ethnography developed by Noblit and Hare. Systematic literature searching was conducted in CINAHL, MEDLINE, Web of Science, PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, Cochrane library and ProQuest dissertations databases. We assessed quality of the studies using Critical Appraisal Skills Program tool. Eleven studies and one dissertation were identified as relevant for the review. The analysis of this systematic review was resulted in three categories: Recognizing resident's emotional needs and preferences under the task-based workload; holistic understanding to build relationship and participation; teamwork, being recognized and ongoing training to overcome the challenges. The concept of PCC in direct care level is perceived well with majority of the study participants but the reality between perceived and practicing PCC is different which indicates mostly lack of organizational rearrangements and support.