Aim. The main aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of care undertaken by nurses and non-professional caregivers of people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Material and methods. The study was conducted in 2015 in the Department of Rheumatology in Malopolska. In the study group were nurses and caregivers of people with RA – a total of 76 people. The research tools were copyright sheet scales: Care Effectiveness Scale 1A and 1B, which had undergone the process of standardization, and the standardized Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale by Schwarzer and Jerusalem. Results. The level of effectiveness of care provided by nurses and caregivers for people with RA was placed at the average level. The nurses presented a high rate of self-efficacy, which was not correlated with the effectiveness of care. There was a strong relationship between the non-professional caregivers’ results of the GSES scale and the level of care effectiveness. Conclusions. The high level of the nurses’ competence did not influence the high level of the care efficiency. Effectiveness of the nursing staff can be described as average, which makes more detailed analysis necessary.

Key words: nurses, caregivers, rheumatoid arthritis.