Purpose <p>To deliver an effective training intervention to staff in temporary elder care institutions in municipalities.</p> Settings <p>A geriatric department at a university hospital in collaboration with 6 surrounding municipalities.</p> Intervention <p>The training intervention was planned using self-determination theory as framework. Important elements were relation building, giving nursing staff a choice concerning themes of teaching sessions (supports autonomy) and selection of cases, supporting competence development through case-based discussions. Study design and statistical approach: before and after the intervention, an electronic questionnaire was mailed to staff at care institutions in the municipalities. The questionnaire contained questions drawn from the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (BPNSFS). Differences concerning competences between before and after the intervention were assessed using Wilcoxon signed-rank test.</p> Key findings <p>55 persons answered the BPNSFS before and after the intervention. For all items in BPNSFS, the results after compared to before improved. However, the improvement was significant only for the sum of all items with a mean difference of 0.13, <i>p</i> = 0.05, and for one single item (I feel capable at what I do at work), with a mean difference of 0.15, <i>p</i> = 0.02.</p> Conclusions <p>We have shown that self-determination theory has the potential to provide a theoretical framework for planning training interventions among staff in temporary elder care institutions. It is possible to measure the effect using an instrument developed within the framework of self-determination theory (BPNSFS).</p>