Looking after nanna

As a nursing home manager, you know that your senior caregivers are one of the biggest assets of your facility. Caring, engaged and experienced staff help you to attract and retain families into your facility, and ensure that the facility remains profitable.  

Here are some ways to help retain your staff, beyond monetary rewards.

Flexible shift rosters

Many of the staff working in nursing homes are simultaneously juggling their own family commitments, with the round-the-clock nature of working in a nursing home. While it can be easier for managers to only employ full time staff, part time staff can help cover for ill workers, training demands and break coverage during the shifts. Offering flexibility to swap shifts or work part time can help you retain your quality staff for longer.

Training and development

Allowing your staff to complete relevant aged care, enrolled nurse and registered nurse qualifications increases your flexibility within the centre to cover for leave. Staff will appreciate the extra training and are more likely to stay with a company that supports their constant up-skilling. Even for staff that currently have appropriate aged care qualifications, training sessions that show new and easier ways of completing standard tasks keeps workers on top of best industry practise and helps staff feel more empowered to complete tasks.

Additionally, as the mix of cases and additional care requirements can change between centres, it can make sense and improve job satisfaction to offer staff training that relates to the kinds of clients they might find challenging. Patients with mental health issues, long term substance abuse and complex family relationships can have care requirements that cause significant stress for carers, and these issues are not covered well in broad based medical training. Specialised training can help staff deal with these issues and experience less workplaces stress.

Input into the centre operations

One of the most important things you can do to improve staff turnover is to allow your staff to have input on ways on fixing issues. Workers compensation claims, where nursing home workers receive compensation for workplace injuries, are higher when there is little social support and workers have lower levels of education. When the staff cannot correct outstanding safety and workflow issues in their workplace, the effects are often seen in higher workers compensation claims and staff turnover. Simplified workflows can improve staff satisfaction and help maintain staff in their roles.

Reducing turnover in your senior caregivers helps you offer the best quality of care for your patients. Look beyond monetary remuneration to find ways of reducing staff turnover that are effective and improve your centre long term. For more information, contact a company like Care Givers Pty Ltd.