Aim: The aim was to investigate assistant nurses’ perceptions of how working with national quality registries affected their work situation in care of older people.
Design: Qualitative interview study.
Methods: Sixteen semi‐structured interviews were conducted at four special housing units in Sweden, and a conventional content analysis, with elements of thematic analysis, was applied.
Results: The introduction of national quality registries contributed to role clarifications and the development of new formal work procedures in terms of documentation and arenas and routines for communication. The increased systematics and effectiveness gained from these changes had a perceived positive effect on the work situation, workload, work satisfaction, staff interactions and learning and reflection.