BOOSTING STAFF RETENTION AND CLINICAL OUTCOME WITH SIMPLE DEMENTIA TRAINING
By Jennifer Stelter, Psy.D., CDP, CADDCT, Co-owner of NeuroEssence, LLC and creator of the Dementia Connection Institute.
link /jenniferstelterpsyd
Some have said that this pandemic can now be called “The Exhaustion Epidemic”, with staffing shortages at an all-time high in senior living. Staff started this pandemic without societal support, as it was filtered towards hospital staff, all the while risking their own lives, leaving their loved ones behind, and losing residents with whom they have provided care. This is a recipe for burnout.
THE PROBLEM
With 80-90% of senior living facilities reporting staffing shortages, operators of these facilities should be generating ways to lower the risk of burnout and increase the likelihood of retention, besides just pay raises and bonuses.
The president of Astellas Pharma US, Mark Reisenauer, found that healthcare workers were 40% less likely to feel burned out if they felt valued by their organization, not necessarily paid more. Often employees feel valued when the organization takes steps to invest in them through training and resources that furthers the employees’ knowledge, skills, and opportunities. Now, add a specialty like dementia care for senior living staff, and it makes their roles that much more challenging, because many have no prior training nor experience when they start caring for those with dementia. Employees have to be trained specifically in dementia care in order to provide quality care, otherwise the residents, staff and organization suffer. When it comes to dementia care specifically, there are ways to provide the training and resources needed that your staff crave, increasing their perceived value.
THE SILVER LINING
Here is the liability if staff are not trained… the untrained staff member, let’s say a CNA, approaches the resident in a way that would startle or confuse the resident, like approaching them from behind and pushing their wheelchair without any interaction. Then, the resident perhaps calls out repeatedly, digs their heels into the ground, slaps the CNA’s hand, or spits
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