I realize this past year has been hard on everyone, so maybe its just been that, and the fact that with the lockouts, there has been less available family support. My mom is doing OK, most of the caregivers seem to be helpful and do their job compently, if not always how I would do it. I believe most of the frustrations I've had have been pandemic related; comunication and missing items. Hopefully that will be better now that visitation has been restored.
But, when mom moved into Assisted Living in March 2020, this facility had been open just over a year. It has IL, AL and Memory Care. Mom now lives in Memory Care since June 2020, due to dementia worsening.
There have been 2 Directors, 3 Directors of Nursing, 3 Assisted Living Managers, and now I've been informed that the 4th Memory Care Manager has left (she was only there a month!) While there have been a few changes in the staff that works in Memory Care area, it seems there has been less turnover there, but its hard to tell, since most of that time I just saw staff ocassionally if they came in while I was doing a video call with mom.
I guess I should be glad that the place is nice, it's clean, and Mom seems well taken care of. Which I am, of course. Its just frustrating to meet with the manager to try to establish a rapport for good communication and then poof, they are here one day and gone the next. Only one other time did they say, so and so will be leaving us in a few weeks. The rest has been me reaching out to discuss something and getting told they don't work here anymore.
New facilities have quite the challenge trying to balance expenses and care needed by residents.
There is no incentive anymore to stay put. No pensions and businesses feel people can be replaced and experience working for that company is not considered when getting a raise. In my years working, I have seen people work at a job and told their salary is being capped. The person leaves to find a better paying job and the replacement starts out more than the person who left. It happened to me. I left for pregnancy making 15 an hr (35 yrs ago) and they brought in a replacement for 16 an hr with no experience.
Locally, it begins with a companies' hiring practices in selecting the right candidates and then offering a culture of retention. This applies to both management and direct care workers. This means providing a living wage, health benefits, paid vacations, a chance for continuing education and certification. No one wants to realize they'll never get beyond where they are today. For the first line caregivers, orientation requires more than a 4 hour video to be proficient in what you're doing. Training needs to be person centered and competency based. Employees want to feel that they're important and wanted. I'm sure the residents would appreciate a well trained, dedicated staff, also.
Obviously, the longer the admin has been in place, the better run the facility. This is also true of day cares. My 2 younger sons went to a daycare where the lead administrator had been there 20 years and it showed (as compared to day cares where my first son attended). I picked this day care largely based on her tenure. My MIL is in a non-profit faith-based facility where several of the admin had been there decades, and it shows. The corporate entity under which it is "owned" manages several other facilities. In this same facility however, there is a certain amount of turn-over in medical and aid staffing. But as others have posted, this could certainly be due to the covid impact. In my mind an aid position is a stepping-stone to other types of jobs and so it would surprise me if an aid was there for very long. The floor or head nurses may change due to scheduling challenges and shift issues. Again, could be from covid.
If you are happy with the care I would not be concerned, but you may get somewhere speaking quietly with those working on the floor doing the jobs in cafeteria care and so on, just to see if anyone says. Some little "I am a bit concerned how many are leaving this great place; it must be a really hard job, though". See if anyone bites.
This could help the staff, and I’d imagine whoever calls stays anonymous to the facility.
This is akin to calling animal control when you’re not sure things are okay at a residence - people always think they’re turning someone in! You’re just asking the authorities to visit and see what they think, they take no action if things are fine.
Mom's doing OK, been cooperating with PT, participating in some activities, and I'm getting to visit again, so I'm just going with the flow, and keeping my eyes /ears open.
That's exactly what I've been seeing at the facility where my mom lives. First it was the head nurse. Then the activities director, business manager, and another patient care position.