High Staffing Turnover Diminishes Quality of Life

Staffing turnovers within the health and elder care industry has increased at an alarming rate. From the point of view of an advocate for senior citizens, this is a larger problem then just filling staff vacancies. High turnover impacts the daily lives of the senior citizen under their care and literally alters the perception of safety, security, and quality of services.

In a study conducted by BMC Health Services Research (2006) ‘Determinants of staff job satisfaction of caregivers in two nursing homes in Pennsylvania’ ( Read The electronic version of the full study) it was concluded that there is a consistent association between job satisfaction and the quality of resident care, even affecting the mortality rate of the elder person.

In other words, if the residents felt well cared for, then the employee experienced a higher job satisfaction. But what a circle – what come first? Ensuring excellent care and creating a warm loving environment for your elder clients certainly demands a staff that can meet this standard of expectation.

As part of my volunteer life, I help out as a legal guardian overseeing the care of primarily indigent elderly folks that either do not have family, or need protection from their family.

I’ve dealt primarily with 2 inner city nursing homes, both of which have a high population of Medicaid residents. Tight operating budgets translate in to no frills, no carpet, and few if any amenities. Between the 2 there were distinctive differences.

One had very low staffing turnover and a noticeable positive feeling of care when you entered. In fact, the nursing staff (including the aides and even the cleaning people) on the floor where my lady resided had been there, on average, 4 years. Long enough to have developed a very caring and loving relationship with the lady I visited on a weekly basis.

The other, just a short 5 miles away from the first one I mention, was the exact opposite. I never knew, week-to-week, who would be working and you felt sad just walking through the doors. As the guardian, I expressed my concern to the administrator. I was told that they just couldn’t find ‘good people’ because of their location. Baloney. I suggested he speak with the administrator at the other facility to see what they were doing differently.

It really doesn’t matter if your facility (and/or home care service) serves within the inner city or affluent neighborhood. Staff shortages and high turnover rates can be found in both. Why is it so difficult to find quality employees to work one on one with the elder and/or disabled populations?

There are a number of reasons and studies are being done now but most of the hard data that began to warn us of the trends and predict this staffing crisis began coming out nearly 10 years ago. It’s surprising that the industry as a whole did not begin to strategically plan to overcome this looming crisis, which is now here.

In the past, finding low-skilled, female workers to fill these jobs (86 percent of the positions today are filled by women) was easy. But the aging of baby boomers has also meant that the ratio of workers (women of prime working age, 25 to 54) to older people needing care has fallen; over the next 30 years it is projected to be cut in half. The opening up of less stressful low-wage work options during the recent "full employment economy," coupled with that aging trend, has made direct-care workers much harder to find and even harder to keep.

Speaking recently with an administrator of a large assisted living facility in Ohio (he’s asked to remain anonymous) he pointed out how difficult it is to find the qualities of ethics and self-responsibility within job applicants. Pressed to fill openings, an applicant is hired based on skill sets and successful background checks. The notion of screening for the right ‘positive attitude’ is a luxury.

If we are to meet this, just one of the many challenges of staffing, that of finding the right kind of person that can internally muster up the caring kindness necessary to both add quality of life for our seniors – and then to translate this in to overall job satisfaction for his or her self – we must begin to look at our employees as assets and not expendable easily replaced staff members.

Staffing issues within the health and elder care industry are reaching the point of crisis. It’s time professionals come together and explore possible solutions to this dilemma. If not addressed, it is the senior that ultimately suffers.

Be Part of the Solution

Since Senior Approved Services is all about finding positive solutions, I’d like to invite all health and elder care professionals to join in this conversation and to share with all of us any ideas that you have found successful in regards to hiring, training, and ongoing employee relationships – and most importantly – how this positively affects the quality of life of your senior clients.

Send a 1,000-word essay on your choice of the following topics. If we publish your essay, you will receive an advertising package from Senior Approved Services (valued at $1,200) providing exposure for you and/or your company to our 500,000 (per month) web visitors.

Regardless of which topic you write about – we want to learn how each of these topics ended up making a positive impact upon your elderly clients.

Next month we will offer the opportunity to submit ideas that you have – but have yet to be tested or implemented.

Staffing Health and Elder Care IndustryHigh Turnover Diminishes Quality of Life

Be Part of the Solution

Staffing Health and Elder Care Industry
High Turnover Diminishes
Quality of Life