Does Staff Consistency Contribute to Better Patient Care?

[limey]

I work in a skilled LTC facility. Started there as a Certified Nursing Assistant and now am an LPN (been an LPN for 2 years). I'm loving every minute of the job. As floor nurse on my shift I have been at the facility longer than the other nurses. My aides are the ones I have worked with since I have been employed at this facility. We work very well together and they are wonderful at what they do. Most of the residents in the area I work in, I have known since being employed there. My concern is I'm finding it hard to be consistent in my work because I'm always scheduled on different parts of the facility and never on one area for more than a couple of days at a time. This results nurse reports not being passed on accurately. If a nurse has not been on a hall for several days, she may not get something of importance passed on to her in report. I prefer to stay in the same unit that I have always been before (2 different halls in the same unit). I have discussed this with my superiors and yes, I do understand there may be times such as vacations, call-ins, no-call-no-shows, that we may have to fill that spot. But come on, why should I have to move from my scheduled spot to some other unit because the nurse originally scheduled doesn't want to work in that area? This is cause for concern because it is an inconsistency in staff that can result in poor patient care. I just hope that the administration will try to work on solving this problem. Does any other healthcare facility have this problem?

[Isabelle49]

Though I have never worked in LTC, what you say about consistency is very true. I believe that continuity of care is essential, esp when you are caring for the same group of people day after day. You develop a certain instinct about these patients and can often tell when something is wrong, even though it may be so subtle that others may not notice. Also, in the LTC situation, I would imagine that trust is essential and that is developed over time - a very necessary part in caring for patients.

[srmoon]

We had this issue in a LTC facility I worked at. We restructured report in a book that had updates of conditions that had arose from the last month. I think a fresh set of eyes for the nurses and patients is a good thing. We would rotate halls every couple of weeks. This prevented burnout from the nurses and gave the residents something to look forward to. Some of our nurses became complacent and missed some crutial things that shouln't have been missed. I really enjoyed that system.

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

Yes and no. I'm PT in LTC and sometimes I seem to move around alot. I don't always get the best report either, so I do try to seek out the CNAs and find out what is going on, spend a few minutes reading old report sheets or I will ask the res what is new with them.