Welcome Nursing Home Staff
The Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes Campaign
recognizes the invaluable contribution of all nursing home employees to
improving the quality of care in nursing homes.
The Campaign recognizes that all nursing home staff are critical to
the quality of care and quality of life of nursing home residents.
Frontline staff interact with residents daily and provide 90% of all
care and services. They also can influence the quality, retention, and
satisfaction of their co-workers.
The thousands of nursing homes that participate in the Advancing
Excellence Campaign are voluntarily signing up to improve working
conditions for staff and improve the quality of care provided to
residents. Each home is asked to choose a minimum of two clinical outcome or process
goals to work on during the next year, including retaining staff and
making sure residents get consistent assignment of care.
How homes select goals varies widely. At some nursing homes, the
nursing home administrator, corporate office or board of directors will
decide whether to participate or select the nursing home’s goals. At
other homes, staff members will be integrally involved in the nursing
home’s decision to participate and the selection of clinical outcome or
process goals to focus on. In either case, the involvement and
support of nursing home staff like you will be critical as homes work to
improve resident care and quality of life. Your ideas and suggestions
about how to achieve your nursing home’s goals are very important to its
quality improvement efforts.
Benefits to being a Campaign member include:
- Receiving regular updates related to Campaign activities
- Participating in Campaign activities
- Benefitting from opportunities for professional development
- Getting resources to promote quality improvement, including
those specific to the goals your nursing home is working on
- Receiving strategies for asking your nursing home to become a
Campaign member.
- Being a part of a national quality initiative that has helped
its’ nursing homes members improve the quality of care and quality
of life of their residents and staff
Staff who can participate in the Campaign include:
- Certified or licensed nurse assistants
- Nutrition, dietary, and food service staff
- Activities directors and activities staff
- Social workers
- Housekeeping, laundry, grounds, and maintenance staff
- Medical professionals, such as nurses, doctors, and therapists
- Administrative and support staff
- Clinical consultants, such as dieticians and pharmacists
- Volunteers
Staff members are encouraged to register
to join the campaign and become a participant in the campaign.
The
Top Ten Ideas to Involve All Staff in Advancing Excellence
has ideas on how to engage staff, ranging from planning a campaign
kick-off to providing sample newsletter articles to help you gather
input from staff.
Barbara Bowers Manual: Implementing Change in Long Term Care is a
detailed guide for how to engage nursing home staff at all level in the
change process.