|
|
Your Opinion Counts!In this month's issue of Assisted Living Success, we are introducing a new department dedicated to bringing your voices to our pages. Our intent is to create a dialog regarding the issues that are important to you. In this issue, we focused on staffing. Many thanks to those who participated and we invite all of you to voice your opinion in our future issues. Q: What is your most urgent staffing issue and why? A: "Caregivers are difficult to keep because of the competition around us. We do have good benefits for the employees, some of which have been with us for 15 years. We have a very good management team and a great administrator. We have insurance, a 401(k) plan, and a retention committee. We have drawings for people who have been here for the whole pay period. They get gift certificates for stores and restaurants. They appreciate that. Every quarter we have an employee appreciation day. We have drawings for gifts and money and we have a meal for them on payday. We have them share their ideas with others." Eva Tadrous, administrative assistant, Canyon Hills Club, Anaheim Hills, Calif. A: "One of our biggest challenges as an industry is the labor issue and staffing. Finding good, qualified people and keeping them is what makes the difference. If we don't find those people, we will struggle. That continues to be job No. 1. I have assisted living [facilities] in New Jersey and Ohio. I find my needs change by region and state. In New Jersey it is very difficult to find LPNs and good, qualified nursing aids. In Ohio, it is more of the service-level folks. Part of it may be the cost of living, it is difficult for people to maintain a lifestyle with some of the wage rates in those positions. They are almost forced to get an education and they push for higher wages by other means of employment. People have looked to other industries that are not as demanding in delivering personal care and having your license on the line all the time." Gary Vasquez, Northeast regional manager, Capital Senior Living, Ridgefield, Conn. A: "Since we place such a strong emphasis on customized personal care plans for our residents, it is imperative to our quality initiatives to hire and keep competent yet loving and caring associates. Our residents tell us in our satisfaction surveys that low employee turnover is one of the most important factors in their decision to stay or leave one of our communities. We have implemented retention programs, which include a strong associate feedback system. We survey our associates twice per year and base a portion of our managers' performance evaluations on associate satisfaction. One of our main staffing initiatives right now is recruiting and retaining our care associates who are our direct patient care givers and also our wellness coordinators who are the equivalent of a nursing director in our assisted living system." Ginger A. Sharp, SPHR, director of employment, American Retirement Corporation, Bretwood, Tenn. A: "My most urgent need at this time are nurses and nursing support staff. The nursing industry overall is competitive due to the limited number of nurses and the demand for nursing care. Our assisted living and skilled nursing facility is small in comparison to most in the area. This makes our pay vs. workload is less than the market." Veronica Jackson, director of human resources, Brighton Gardens by Marriott, Austin, Texas A: "Seabrook Village, an active, independent retirement community designed for moderate-income senior citizens, hasn't had a difficult time filling CHHA, CAN, or nursing positions. It's actually been a bit more challenging to fill some general service positions like porters, laundry, and housekeepers. We're not sure why. Our pay is very competitive and is certainly not the issue." Ellen Hook, director of human resources, Renaissance Gardens at Seabrook Village, Tinton Falls, NJ A: "The increased development over the past years has created heavy competition in many markets. This has caused an industry-wide employment crunch. We now find ourselves competing with each other, as well as other industries for the same, small employee pool. Take nurses for example--we are all too familiar with the national nursing shortage which has us competing with all medical fields for the same small nursing pool. And then there is food service. Dining experiences are extremely important in our business and attracting and retaining professional, hospitality-minded wait staff is difficult in today's competitive environment. Although working for a senior living company can mean so much, we find ourselves competing with other hourly wage jobs, such as fast food and full-service restaurants." Joanna Castro, COO, Senior Lifestyle Corporation, Chicago, Ill. Coming in May
Q: What alterations has your facility made for Alzheimer's patients? We enjoy hearing from our readers and finding out what is important to them. If you would like to give us your feedback on this upcoming question, e-mail your responses to mgardner@vpico.com. Be sure to include your name, title, and facility name, and type the question in the subject line of the e-mail. Deadline for responses is Friday, March 29. The following companies specialize in matching healthcare workers with employment opportunities: CompHealth MedPloyment Preferred Healthcare Staffing StarMed Symbion
Click here to purchase reprints |
Your Opinion Counts!
|
|
|
