Adequate Care OF Long-Term Care Patients Research Paper Samples

During my employment at an assisted living home, I noticed many problems that commonly occur in long-term care facilities. One of the many problems my facility faced was the inability to provide adequate planning of care for its residents because of a shortage of staff. Few staff members were expected to care for over 100 residents of varying skill levels. In my experience, I always felt like I needed to be in many places all at one time, I could never finish my work thoroughly, and that there was not enough time to go above and beyond and be personal with the residents, in addition to performing the expected mundane tasks.
The most important change that needs to happen in long-term care facilities is the addition of staff members. In order to adequately care for others, the employer must have the man-power to do so. Bathing, dressing, and dispensing medication to the elderly takes time. Not only does it take time to complete the tasks, it takes extra time to make the assistance meaningful. Many of the individuals have very few visitors and outside communication with others. Residents enjoy the friendship that can prosper from their relationship with their caregivers. In order to satisfy the requirements of the job and to go above and beyond and make a difference in the resident’s life, more staff is required to provide more time to be spent with residents.
If the employer should have trouble finding employees or retaining their current employees, the facility can look into requesting federal, state, or private aid (5). For example, in 2002, Johnson & Johnson acknowledged the shortage and set aside $20 million for the recruitment of nurses (Keenan, P., & Kennedy, J. 6). Additionally, every year since 1996, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has also lent a helping hand through its Colleagues in Caring program to support nursing workforce development programs (Keenan, P., & Kennedy, J. 6).

References

Keenan, P., & Kennedy, J. (2003). The Nursing Workforce Shortage: Causes, Consequences,
Proposed Solutions. Issue Brief, 5-6.