Staffing

Money down the drain?

The pleasant smell of clean clothes, of clean sheets, of clean towels…. Processing laundry might be a back-of-the-house service but it is Read More »

Healthcare reform: What does it mean for LTC employers?

Healthcare reform-everyone's heard of it and everybody's aware that a sea of change is taking place with respect to healthcare coverage. The 2,400+ Read More »

LTC staffing: A global concern

Susan was recently invited to Australia to speak to the state offices of the Alzheimer’s Association, local providers, and other interested parties Read More »

Are your employees being heard?

In a previous column about staff satisfaction, we discussed what common themes are important to staff, as found in numerous staff satisfaction Read More »

Staff needs to know what residents and families want

A recent question for the Resident Sound-Off feature here on Long-Term Living asked, “What qualities or characteristics make for a good staff Read More »

Mather Pavilion’s Culture of Leadership

2010 OPTIMA Award proudly sponsored by Since 1996, Long-Term Read More »

Sustaining a person-centered care environment

ACTS Retirement Life Communities (ACTS) has implemented a person-centered care (PCC) initiative throughout its family of 23 continuing care Read More »

Preparing your staff

TRAINING RESOURCES For more information on CMS' training materials, including current RAI Manual updates, visit Read More »

The high cost of administrator turnover: A snowball effect

While we were planning a column on a different topic, we were touched and saddened to read a recent commentary on the Long-Term Living Web site. Read More »

Implementing, refining acuity-based staffing

*Editor’s note: Doug Fullaway, president and COO of Vigilan, provides part two of his analysis on staffing methods in assisted living. Click here to Read More »

Getting through to your staff

When employees are asked to choose what contributes to job satisfaction, the presence—or absence—of an effective communication system consistently Read More »

Housekeeping’s role

During the beginning of my stay here, cleaning my room was not a challenge. When I moved to a private room, I brought my computer and added Read More »

Methods of staffing in assisted living

At the core of any assisted living community is service delivery. Delivering services means providers need people—enough to do a good job, but not Read More »

How care leaders foster respect

Our last column touched on the importance of respect—and the importance of creating a respectful environment for all residents, families, and staff. Read More »

What are you doing to retain staff?

As an ombudsman volunteer for the past six plus years, I have witnessed the effects of short staffing and have also heard many of the complaints Read More »

Inviting respect into the facility

In a previous column, we addressed staff satisfaction—and what staff members really want. ‘Respect’ and ‘appreciation’ are tops on the list. Sadly, Read More »

Measuring clinical decision-making skills

In late 2008, I was grappling with the problem of trying to prioritize in-house and continuing education training programs for our 100 therapists Read More »

What we know about staff satisfaction

Securing and retaining staff, keeping them happy and content continue to be a major and very expensive problem in assisted living and long-term care. Read More »

SERVICE model fosters greater staff satisfaction

“Would we do this again? Yes! The implementation of this model has generated outcomes that have made this community more successful, productive, and Read More »

Employee failures are your own

Why is it that employees are hired in assisted living and long-term care, placed in positions without any preparation or orientation, and then both Read More »

Networking skills to make personal connections

Long-term care (LTC) professionals are well aware that our jobs, our facilities, and our patients' expectations have radically changed in the past Read More »

Staff retention and resident longevity: Are they related?

A reader asks, “Is there a correlation between nursing staff length of service and resident longevity? Our 180-bed sister skilled nursing and Read More »

Personnel investigations

Personnel investigations are necessary whenever there is an allegation or indication of employee misconduct. According to Federal Regulation F-225, Read More »

Orientation—the foundation for success

Many liken staff turnover to a revolving door—new staff leave as quickly as they arrived. We have previously described methods to transform the Read More »

Interviewing for expectations: Theirs and yours

Reader submitted question: Once a list of potential candidates is narrowed, how can I make the in-person interview most beneficial?   The interview Read More »

How do I deal with an older employee who will not retire?

A reader from Ohio asks if a company can legally ask an older employee to retire, or establish a specific policy requiring retirement at a certain Read More »

How should I select employees for my facility?

If you are simply filling staffing holes with “warm bodies,” please understand this will cost you far more down the road. Existing, dedicated staff Read More »

How can I get my staff to come in as scheduled and on time?

Janice Hammond, RN from Indiana sent a question about how to get staff to show up for work and on time. This question often comes up during Read More »

How important is new employee orientation?

New employees don’t start in a new position able to succeed without information and direction. Regardless of years of experience in healthcare or a Read More »

Workforce crisis worsens

The nation's nursing home industry is facing a critical, and apparently worsening, workforce crisis and is urging the federal government to step in Read More »