Here are some examples:

• 31% of home care agencies surveyed this year were found non-compliant in following physician’s orders!
• 23% of home care staff were found to be less than competent to perform their jobs.
• Home care staff failed to reduce the risk of client falls 21% of the time.
• A whopping 24% of Medicare-certified nursing homes were deficient in hand hygiene!
• In skilled nursing facilities, residents were not assessed or reassessed properly 17% of the time.
• 16% of skilled nursing facilities had an ineffective emergency plan.
• Hospitals didn’t fare any better.  47% of them were cited for improper fire safety equipment.  And, 27% of them did not maintain a safe environment for patients.

Armed with the above knowledge, you can take steps now to prepare your nursing assistants for future Joint Commission (or other) surveys.  And, we can help!  In the Know has inservices covering all of the above topics…and much, much more.  If you have pressing issues that you feel might come up during a survey, give us a call.  We can help you put together a pre-survey inservice plan that will help your CNAs sail through with no deficiencies!

And, if you’d like to see the Joint Commission statistics for yourself, check them out here.

“In our research, we saw a cascading effect.  Employees who had no training or did not believe their training prepared them well had more injuries.  Those employees were also much less likely than non-injured employees to recommend their organization as a place at which to work or seek services.”

Here are some other findings of the study:

• Employees who felt ill-prepared were three times more likely to be injured than employees who were well-trained.
• Employees who felt poorly supervised were also more likely to be injured–not just once, but multiple times.
• Cutting back on training to shave the budget increased employees’ injury risk and turnover rates.  In the long run, this boosted costs rather than saving money!

You’ve probably experienced it firsthand.  When money gets tight, education is one of the first things to go…especially at the nursing assistant level.  But are you really saving money?  What are the injury and turnover rates at your workplace?  If asked, do you think your CNAs would consider themselves both well-trained and well-supervised? Would they recommend your organization as a place to work or as a place to receive care?

At In the Know, we strive to provide quality CNA continuing education to meet every budget.  If you’d like to discuss how you can maintain a top-notch team of (healthy) nursing assistants please give us a call at 877-809-5515.  With more than 130 inservice topics, including modules on safe transfers, back care, the CNA/Nurse relationship and personal wellness, we can meet your CNAs’ learning needs.

Happy Teaching!

Linda

It can be hard to always know whether or not your nurse aides act in a compassionate manner while on the job.  That’s why it’s so important to encourage compassionate behavior.  By studying our newly added inservice called “The Caring Qualities of a CNA,” your nurse aides will learn everything they can do to have more empathy, compassion, patience, dedication and respect for their clients.

A Peek Inside the Inservice:

Whether or not you can TEACH compassion is a question that is hard to answer.  However, as a nurse educator, you can ENCOURAGE your nurse aides to be more compassionate.  Try sharing the following tips with your CNAs:

• Remember to put your clients’ needs before your own.
• Treat people fairly and with respect and dignity.
• Show kindness without expecting rewards.
• Get to know your clients.
• Comfort your client’s family members who may be stressed and/or grieving.
• Be sensitive and allow people to vent their frustrations.
• Listen when people confide in you.
• Be friendly to any new co-workers who seem to be overwhelmed.
• Help a co-worker without being asked.
• Try to understand someone you don’t like or with whom you disagree.
• Accept people for who they are–faults and all!

Click here to see a sample page of “The Caring Qualities of a CNA.”

At the National Mental Health Information Center, you can download (at no charge) toolkits, fact sheets and staff workshops all aimed at preventing suicide and promoting optimal mental health among senior citizens.  All you need to take advantage of these materials is Acrobat Reader.

As your nurse aides provide personal care and assist with ADLs, it’s vital that they also pay attention to their clients’ mental health status.  If you are looking for additional mental health resources, don’t forget In the Know inservices.  We offer the following related topics:

• Understanding Depression
• Working with the Mentally Ill
• Understanding Schizophrenia
• Understanding Common Phobias
• Understanding Suicide

Because your CNAs spend so much time with your clients, they are in a good position to notice changes in mental health.  So, be sure to arm your nursing assistants with the knowledge they need to make (and report) appropriate observations about their clients’ mental health.

1.  Every month, insert a crisp new $1.00 bill in a couple of the inservice handout packets.  If you conduct your inservices in a group setting, ask the lucky recipients to read part of the inservice out loud or to “volunteer” for the participatory activities.
2.  To promote participation during the inservice, pick a “secret word” or “secret phrase” prior to the inservice.  It should be a word or phrase that is likely to be said by a participant during the learning session.  Write it down on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope.  When someone says the secret word or phrase, make a big fuss and give that person a prize.  You can even have two or three secret words prepared to keep the group alert and active throughout the entire inservice.
3.  During an inservice–especially one that’s on a serious topic–take a few minutes to get rid of stress.  Pass out some “stress-reducers” such as squeeze balls, bubble gum or rubber bands.  Make paper airplanes and race them.  Or inflate balloons and let them loose.
4.  Reward participation during inservice meetings.  using “Monopoly money”, give out a bill for each contribution to the topic at hand.  Allow your CNAs to redeem the play money for little prizes (candy, magazines, pretty pens, etc.) that “cost” a certain amount of play money each.
5.  Put a disposable tablecloth on the table during your inservices.  Let your nurse aides draw or write on it (before and after the inservice and during a two minute break in the middle of the meeting).
6.  To encourage group discussion or to make it easier to break into teams, copy each inservice onto two or more different colors of pastel paper.  Group the participants together based on the color of their inservice.  Or, ask for a member of each group to comment on a discussion question.

Using one or more of these simple strategies is bound to enliven your educational sessions and enhance learning…so, happy teaching!

• Distinguish between normal and abnormal observations in their clients.
• Identify the specific course of action to take with each abnormal observation they may encounter.
• List at least three abnormal observations they might make in regards to:  vital signs, mental status, nutrition and pain.
• Distinguish between objective and subjective observations.
• Demonstrate the ability to recognize and properly report abnormal observations in their daily work.

Would you like to see a sample page from the inservice? Click here to view the PDF file.

Interested in ordering this topic? Click here to visit our website.  If you would prefer to order over the phone, call us toll-free at 877.809.5515 and one of our helpful associates will be happy to assist you!

“I add information and questions to my In the Know inservices that are facility-specific.  And, on each unit, I maintain a self-study folder box so that the CNAs always have access.”

“I utilize members of our team to present different inservices.  For example, an African American assistant administrator presented the ‘Understanding Cultural Diversity’ inservice to help CNAs understand that it is so much more than race.  Medical social workers presented the ‘Understanding & Supporting Advance Directives’ inservice.  And, a corporate compliance officer presented the ‘Maintaining Confidentiality’ inservice.”

“When I do a training, I copy the learner’s section of the inservice, the quiz and any puzzles or games–and distribute them to the aides.  The aides are very involved in the training.  Usually, we split up in groups during the inservice meeting and I assign a group leader.  We do some problem solving.  This allows the aides to practice critical thinking.  Then, we get together and discuss each other’s ideas.

“I develop a workbook for each In the Know topic which includes several copies of the learner’s section and a separate instructor workbook.  This has been especially helpful for the night shift.”

“To save paper, we try to recycle copies of each In the Know inservice throughout the year.  However, aides are welcome to keep their own copies if they wish.”

“We mail In the Know inservices to employees with their paychecks once a month.  It works great!”

“I print out the Certificate of Completion from my In the Know Supervisor Toolkit.  I make one copy for the company file and one for the employee to take home.”

“To let our employees know when and what the monthly inservice is, I ‘advertise’ it by writing a short article in our company newsletter.  (The newsletter comes out one week before the inservice meeting.)”

“I allow my home care aides to do their inservices on a self-study basis.  I pay them for an hour and provide them with a due date.  When I grade their quizzes, I let them know how they did and hand out certificates.  They really enjoy receiving that pat on the back.  Also, if a number of aides miss the same quiz question, I use that as an opportunity for further education.  It lets me know what they don’t understand.”

“Sometimes, I give the nursing assistants material from the inservice to preview.  Then, on the day of the meeting, they present their section of the inservice.”

“I’ll pull some interesting facts or statistics from each inservice and write them on separate slips of paper which are distributed to each participant.  Throughout the inservice, I have each person read his/her fact to the group.  This promotes participation, even among shy employees.

We hope these tips give you some ideas for streamlining your own inservice program, whether or not you use In the Know modules.  And, from all of us at In the Know, Happy Summer!

• Institute a “Learning Award” and present it to the nursing assistant who completes the most hours of continuing education in a specific time period (calendar quarter or year) or on a specific subject pertinent to your workplace (patient rights or workplace safety).

• Encourage and support skills that go beyond client care, such as money management, parenting, career planning, resume writing, etc.

• Have a different nursing assistant lead each inservice meeting with you.

• Consider developing a tuition reimbursement plan and/or a college scholarship program for the nursing assistants at your workplace.

• Ask a CNA or two to join you when a medical equipment representative comes in to demonstrate or promote a new product.  The CNAs may know best if the equipment in question will work at your facility.

• Encourage your nursing assistants to volunteer for committees at work–ethics, quality improvement, safety, etc.  Then, give them the time and support to attend the meetings.

• At home health or hospice client care meetings, ask your aides to present each of their clients.  Don’t let them sit there quietly when they probably have such valuable input to share.

• On your CNAs’ yearly performance evaluations, make sure that at least one of their goals has to do with learning.

• Build a library of books at your workplace on a variety of subjects:  health care, motivation, parenting, physical fitness, healthy eating, etc.  Allow your CNAs to “check out” the books.

• Encourage your CNAs to become computer literate (if they aren’t already).\

• Start each inservice or staff meeting by asking your CNAs to share one thing they have learned since the last meeting.

• Assess the learning needs of your nursing assistants quarterly…or at least annually.

• Teach your CNAs to speak up if they are assigned to a client with an unfamiliar diagnosis.

• Have your nursing assistants lead a book club for the residents in your facility or teach the residents one of their favorite hobbies.

Whew…as you can see, the possibilities are endless!  But the bottom line remains the same:  give your nursing assistants the opportunity to learn and grow and they will be happier, more productive employees.  And, you’ll have a team of top-notch CNAs!

Who’s doing all this talking?  Your co-workers…nurses and other nursing assistants.  Politicians…governors and senators.  And, celebrities…a diverse group including Mary Murphy (from So You Think You Can Dance), Dr. Patch Adams and actress Jane Fonda.

Where can you read their comments?  Visit Just for Nursing Assistants.  While you’re there, please consider leaving some comments of your own.  For example, what would you say to a CNA who feels discouraged?  Or, what would you say to someone who is thinking about becoming a CNA?  You may add your thoughts here.

Soon, it will be CNA Week (June 10-17).  That’s a great time to put the focus on your CNAs and give something back to this hardworking group.  At In the Know, we send our thanks to CNAs everywhere…and we hope you will spread the word about our new site, Just for Nursing Assistants, which was created just for them!

Has your organization been affected by the CNA shortage? Unfortunately, the problem is only going to get worse.  In the United States alone, there are more than 3 million direct care workers, but we will need one million more by 2016!  And, over the next ten years, it is estimated that we’ll need 30% more home health aides.  This rate of growth is much faster than the average for all occupations.

Our mission at In the Know has always been to enhance the professionalism of nursing assistants everywhere. So, to do just that, we have created a website where the general public can gain a better understanding of the important work done by CNAs.  And, at Just for Nursing Assistants, people are free to let nursing assistants know they care by offering words of support, a personal experience or simply expressions of gratitude.

Some of you have already submitted your thoughts to us.  If so, your comments will be published on Just for Nursing Assistants in the coming weeks.  If you have not expressed your feelings, please consider doing so now…and help us spread the word about the dedication and compassion of CNAs.  And, feel free to share the website address (www.justfornursingassistants.com) with all your direct care staff.

Take care,

Linda

Linda Leekley BS, RN