New from PHI’s National Clearinghouse
The newest additions to the PHI National Clearinghouse on the Direct Care Workforce:
Charting New Waters in Leadership Development — This article, from Provider‘s April 2013 issue, explores the various ways in which nursing homes can use culture change to increase job satisfaction among nurses and certified nursing assistants, thereby lowering turnover. The author emphasizes the importance of training and continued education, as well as less-conventional methods, such as allowing frontline caregivers to wear street clothes in order to emphasize the home-like atmosphere of the facility.
Contingency, Employment Intentions, and Retention of Vulnerable Low-Wage Workers: An Examination of Nursing Assistants in Nursing Homes — Published in the April 2013 Gerontologist, this survey analyzes the reasons that nursing assistants leave their jobs. The researchers hypothesize that factors such as workload and job satisfaction are less important to low-wage nursing assistants than are certain “contingency factors,” such as being a primary breadwinner or being a single mother. The researchers conclude that the contingency factors are, in fact, greater predictors in retention than are standard job-satisfaction data.
The Effect on Nursing Home Resident Outcomes of Creating a Household Within a Traditional Structure — This study compares resident data from 33 traditional nursing homes with 35 nursing homes that are structured in the household model, in accordance with person-centered care standards. The report finds that residents in household-model nursing homes showed superior outcomes in several areas, including better self-performed eating ability and lower usage of restraints. However, traditional nursing homes reported a lower fall rate among residents. The study was published in the April 2013 issue of JAMDA.
The PHI 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 1,000 articles, reports, issue briefs, and fact sheets on the direct-care workforce.
— by Matthew Ozga
