Monthly newsletters and weekly updates on a designated voice mail message line provide inexpensive current information. These were significant successes, but we quickly learned that these successes could be reversed when we lost sight of our goals. In 1996, a demonstration grant from a foundation enabled us to refocus on staffing issues. We established cognitive skills training as part of CNA orientation. This training, now peer-led, teaches both life skills of dealing with stress and anger as well as home health scenarios.
Employees have clear steps with related compensation levels.
We provide training to all staff that enables them to move up the ladder and increase their earning potential. This is a management challenge, as it requires scrutiny to insure high quality care. The system encourages CNAs to maximize their schedules, within a 40 hour per week framework, instead of a previous system that rewarded inefficiency. We have learned that a stable staff is built upon proper hiring and appropriate recognition. While no single formula exists for success, tending to basic principles of communication, support, and recognition can cut turnover rates significantly.