Staffing

Overcoming resistance to change

By discovering the background story that underlies staff resistance to change, administrators, department heads and supervisors have been able to address root problems, rather than symptoms, and thereby make change stick. Read More »

A senior community can be a great place to work

Long hours, physical stress and injury, moderate pay and other complaints are the general mantra of LTC employees—but not in Denver. Workers at one CCRC in particular have plenty to brag about when it comes to their employer. Read More »

What OSHA’s new injury-reduction program means to LTC employers

OSHA’s program, a National Emphasis Program, is aimed at reducing workplace injuries specifically in long-term care, and will cover nursing homes, residential mental retardation facilities and continuing care retirement communities. Read More »

Federal court blocks labor board’s union posting rule

The National Labor Relations Board was issued an injunction delaying implementation of a rule requiring employers to post a notice in the workplace informing employees of their right to unionize. Read More »

Report links higher death rate among elderly to improving economy

A connection is made between frontline healthcare workers, employment levels in the economy overall and deaths among the elderly. Read More »

Create a ‘thriving workforce’ through empowerment

Beyond tangible, teachable skills, like how to set a table properly, training for thriving employees includes helping them break out of the status quo. When employees are able to take small risks in the service of making the community work better, they feel empowered and engaged. Read More »

OSHA targets SNFs with new safety program

For the new National Emphasis Program, OSHA will target LTC facilities with a days-away-from-work rate of 10 or higher per 100 full-time workers. Read More »

Understanding your employees’ protected online activity

The government protects employees’ rights to engage in "concerted activity" for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. You might be surprised how far-reaching these protections can be, even in long-term care settings. Read More »

Upstairs Solutions, Care2Learn announce merger

The combined company, which now provides services to 4,000 post-acute care facilities in the United States and Canada, will operate under parent company VectorLearning. Read More »

Mentorship program aimed at guiding nurses through careers

The Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses mentoring program, which is supplemented with online resources, is designed to help nurses develop relationships and improve their caregiving skills. Read More »

Geriatric nursing: A growing field

LeadingAge Texas and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center partner to remove the undeserved stigmas attached to a career in geriatric nursing and empower young nurses to realize their role in elder care. Read More »

One-on-one with…Dwayne J. Clark

This month, Dwayne J. Clark, Founder/CEO of Aegis Living is our guest in the Boardroom. Learn more about the company's employee focus, including Aegis Extras and more. Read More »

How to eliminate the ‘Silo Effect’ in LTC organizations

Our current healthcare system is one of silos: private insurers, Medicare, Medicaid, hospitals, nursing homes, home healthcare, regulators—all working independently, but connected, to haphazardly manage the nation’s healthcare. Read More »

Seniors receive presidential kudos for their volunteer efforts

More that 200 residents at Greenspring Retirement Community receive well-deserved recognition for the exceptional service they provide to others. Thousands of hours of dedicated giving not only benefits the the people and organizations they serve, but these selfless individuals achieve hours of self-fulfillment. Read More »

Practicing learner-centered training

The movement to change the culture of nursing homes to create environments that are real homes, not institutional warehouses, is also changing approaches to staff education. But what types of learning activities support culture change? Read More »

An incredible feeling: Staff rallies around resident in his final days

The hospital staff was amazed at the solid stream of people that was in and out of Clifford’s room. He never spent a second alone. Often the hospital nurses would ask, “Are you family?” The answer was always the same: “We are from the nursing home, and yes, we are his ‘family.’” Read More »

Common resident scuffles lead to physical injury

Scuffles are common here among residents. They sort of come in spurts of two or three. If a resident is loud and another resident does not like it, a slap for hit may be the result, especially when staff is not looking. Read More »

CNA uses Facebook to violate resident privacy, dignity

All of the policy in the world likely would not stop someone from going as heinously rogue as this nursing assistant. That type of behavior considers neither rules nor decorum and should be met with zero tolerance on the part of employers. Read More »

2012 OPTIMA Award: Call for submissions!

We're now accepting entries for Long-Term Living's 17th annual award, which continues a strong tradition of recognizing resident-centered care administered by staff who go above and beyond the call of duty. Read More »

4 ways psychology can improve your bottom line

Observe these four theories and my hypothetical long-term care scenarios. Who knows, this could be you—and who wants to ignore an opportunity to save money and build morale? Read More »

AHCA tasks members to reduce hospital readmissions, off-label use of antipsychotics

The four “Quality Initiative” goals have been defined for the next three years to set specific benchmarks for long-term and post-acute care quality improvement. Read More »

The turnaround to survey excellence

Survey excellence should be a professional goal of all healthcare workers. I suggest a three-step approach to encouraging complete staff involvement: the Focus Review, the Fast Track and the Survey Prime. Read More »

Caregiver advocates ramp up equality message on labor law

One of the more exciting aspects of covering an industry so heavily affected by government policy is to observe how provider associations and advocates aggressively lobby for change. But how often do groups actually demand it? Read More »

Salary survey: LTC directors of information technology

In healthcare, there’s an exceedingly large amount of sensitive information to manage, and not everyone has the aptitude to succeed. So it should then come as no surprise that in long-term and post-acute care, providers just can’t afford to pay top IT talent. Read More »

A nursing home’s ‘secret’ to making list of ‘Best Nursing Homes’

Bethany Health Care Center, Framingham, Mass., has made U.S. News & World Report's annual list of top-rated nursing homes three times. Its administrator explains the simple formula for her community's success. Read More »

How to send positive messages to residents and families

For this to happen, your customer service efforts need to be proactive rather than reactive. Anticipate your customer's needs and take steps to solve any problems before they arise. Read More »

Hospitality and leadership in the dining room

Frontline servers are emerging leaders within senior care communities. Forward-thinking administrators recognize the value of arming their staffs with targeted hospitality training. Read More »

3 steps to starting your own senior care internship program

An internship program is a great way to find qualified staff, raise resident morale, generate new ideas and give back to the community by helping college students. The key is fostering positive relationships with local colleges. Read More »

5 competencies of successful sales/marketing professionals

The simple truth is that successful sales and marketing professionals are made, not born. Here are the five areas of skill and knowledge your team members must have to be successful in healthcare sales and marketing. Read More »

5 reasons why you should run a senior care internship program

Find qualified staff, raise resident morale, generate new ideas, market your community relations, save money—it's a no-brainer, really. Just ask yourself: "Can we start an internship program of our own?" Read More »