While there are many elements that go into developing a high-quality and sustained person-centered culture in skilled nursing and assisted living, perhaps one of the most important is that of consistent assignment. Care communities using consistent assignment place value on a team of professionals who commit to truly knowing the resident and working on maintaining caring and trusting relationships. Consistent staffing encourages bonding, a natural flow of daily living and closer relationships and can be enhanced greatly by caregivers who possess the capacity for genuine human interaction.
What Can Consistent Staffing do for Your Community?
One of the greatest gifts that consistent staffing can give is higher employee retention and lower turnover. Employees who work side by side with each other, care for the same residents every day and spend time with family members are less likely to leave for another job. Working so closely also encourages sensitivity and empathy. When you know someone so well, it’s hard not to feel more compassion and emotional connection to them.
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When families see caregivers every day, they may feel more comfortable to be open and honest about issues and concerns. They, too, may make more recommendations and offer their opinion concerning every day care. Naturally, as people spend more time together, they begin to understand each other’s sense of humor and may feel more at home and relaxed around one another.
Staff who work with each other consistently, may share ideas, alternatives, and different ways of doing things and have more teaching moments together. Equally important, care staff who spend day after day with the same residents can pick up any sudden changes in health status or cognitive abilities and report these to a supervisor. And, last, when people spend so much time together, they tend to share duties and tasks more naturally than people who don’t spend much time together.
Consistent Assignment Begins with Hiring the Right Candidate
Turnover in senior care is very high and seems to be an ongoing problem. One thing to consider when hiring is looking for the right person who has the capacity to genuinely connect with residents, family members and other employees. Yes, education, experience, age, and background matter, but quality caregivers know that their number one job is to be fully present with residents and families. This is a difficult characteristic to teach, so seek out and hire those candidates that show this quality up front.
Final Words on Person-Centered Care and the Importance of Consistent Staffing
Not everyone in senior care should work in senior care. It takes a very special person to give him- or herself unselfishly to their residents and families. When you place these types of employees into smaller care areas in senior living communities and provide consistent staffing, step back and watch the magic begin.
(NOTE: Interested in CEUs for Nursing Home Administrators? Checkout my Nursing Home Administrator CEUs on CEU Academy and try a FREE CEU today!)