The newest additions to PHI’s National Clearinghouse on the Direct Care Workforce.

Recognition and Gratitude Make Big Impact — This article, published in the November 2009 issue of Provider, highlights numerous programs that long-term care facilities have enacted to increase staff satisfaction and, in turn, reduce worker turnover. Many of the programs are designed to recognize the importance of direct-care workers on an individual level; they range from worker-empowering self-scheduling policies to complimentary massage therapy sessions. The article also emphasizes the importance of career ladders and lattices as a way to promote workforce retention.

Improving Direct-Care Work: Integrating Theory, Research, and Practice — This July 2009 white paper from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation presents a broad overview of the direct-care workforce. The authors examine issues such as wages, benefits, training, worker retention rates, staff satisfaction, and the importance of worker-focused “culture change” initiatives in direct-care settings. They conclude that the quality of direct-care jobs must be increased in order to attract a “stable and competent” direct-care workforce, and point to research that suggests ways to create more collaborative, effective, and satisfying direct-care jobs.

Perceived Barriers to Effective Job Performance Among Nursing Assistants in Long-Term Care — This study, published in the October 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, identifies the most significant barriers to effective job performance — and, therefore, job satisfaction — as perceived by a survey group of 188 certified nursing assistants (CNAs). Among the work-related factors that CNAs believe lead to diminished job performance are: exclusion from communication processes, an unreasonably high workload, and a lack of teamwork among CNAs. The study concludes that further research should explore a possible relationship between these factors and CNA turnover.

PHI’s National Clearinghouse on the Direct Care Workforce is a national online library for people in search of solutions to the direct-care staffing crisis in long-term care. It houses over 800 articles, reports, issue briefs, and fact sheets on the direct-care workforce.