The starting point of the dissertation is the thesis that the work in Luxembourg's nursing homes is based on nursing models that are - in today's sense of gerontology - outdated in some respects. This is explained in the theoretical part in (literary-) analyzes on the following topics: Aging and theories of aging, living conditions in the national homes, qualification of geriatric nursing staff, previously used nursing models, central needs of older people from the perspective of nursing models and recent research. In the second part, the author presents her support model for Luxembourg nursing homes developed in this context, which focuses on the promotion of competences, autonomy and self-determination as well as the fulfillment of the central needs of residents of care institutions. The components of the model are presented and the prerequisites for a successful implementation with regard to legal-administrative regulations, qualification of the nursing staff, sensitization of the inhabitants of residential nursing institutions and their relatives as well as the public are comprehensively elaborated and completed by considerations of quality assurance and the limits of the model. In the center of the third part is an empirical study of Luxembourg nursing staff with the aim of identifying needs and conditions for the introduction of the new support model. In a questionnaire study, with n = 155 participants of different qualification levels, their typical nursing behavior as well as caregiver-related convictions, goals and emotions were surveyed. By cluster analysis - as expected - a group of caregivers has been identified that tends to promote nursing behavior that promotes autonomy, while - contrary to expectations - no group of caregivers has shown nursing behavior that limits autonomy. Instead, there was a group with inconsistent care, characterized partly by promotion and partly by restriction on the autonomy of inhabitants of residential care institutions. A similar cluster pattern emerged for the nursing ...