If I could create a perfect nursing home, it would be like:
-NO CNAs with attitudes. You can not have a nasty attitude and work in Geriatrics. It takes a lot of patience and compassion to work with the elderly and if you have a nasty attitude, how will that work?
-CNA/Resident ratio will be 5:1. I think it's unfair to give CNAs 10+ residents. Many of them are stressed out because of all the work. I would want them to spend time with the resident. Have them play games with them. I would want them to create a bond with the resident.
-Nurse/Resident ratio will be 10:1. The workload for the nurses is ridiculous. I'm not a nurse, I work with the administration side of things, but I can clearly see that the nurses have a lot to do. Like the CNAs, I want the nurses to build a relationship with the resident. How can you create a relationship with a resident if you're busy talking to pharmacy, passing out meds, charting, paperwork for administration and serving the residents for whatever need?
-I would pay CNAs $15 minimum. I think some of them would care more about their jobs if they made a little bit more.
-NO CELL PHONES ALLOWED. They must be locked up somewhere. It annoys me when I see a nurse on a cell phone.
-An equal amount of male and female nurses. Too many female nurses creates too much drama.
-No residents in the hallway!! That irriates me!!!!!!! That is a pet-peeve of mine. I do not like to see residents sitting in the hallway like they're useless. All residents must be placed in an activity room or sitting in their room watching TV. If a resident is in the hallway longer than 5 minutes, then the CNA will be written up.
-There would be a gated park outside of the building for the residents to sit around and get fresh air. GIVE THEM FRESH AIR!! Sometimes I want to shout this out loud when the nurses are wondering why a resident wants to escape. Give them a change of scenery!!
So there you have it, my perfect nursing homes. :)
When I was a kid there was a NH in the country It was right down the road from us. The thing I loved the most about the place was they had a good sized garden and all summer I would see all these little old folks out there every day. They ate the food they grew. And they had a decent sized pond and it had a little dock with nice chairs on it. It also had a rail on it for safety. The front porch was huge and covered. In the country everybody waves to each other. In the morning and afternoon everyone on the school bus would wave and yell Hello! I would ride my horse up there about once a week and they would come out and talk A couple of them wanted me to take the saddle off so they could brush her out. And there were apples galore The horse loved going up there LOL.
Then it was sold and went downhill from there. No More garden,fishing or anything They said it was forced labor in the garden They tore down the dock on the pond, it was too dangerous.I couldn't come up there with the horse any more They said it was too dangerous for the residents. The could still sit on the porch but only a handful did. The new owners just killed the spirit of all those seniors. It made me sick I went off to college soon after that. Now when I go see my family no one is seen outside anymore.
I would want one like the OP described and with the stuff from the one down the road from my Dad.
I think all of the rules and regulations sometimes leads to a resident's failure to thrive. Sometimes I get annoyed with all of the "regulations."
I love the flexible meals idea. Offer 1 or 2 seatings per meal, with no assigned seats. Make take-out available for anyone who wants to eat at other times.
I also like the idea of a large fenced-in yard so people can around outside, but not wander off.
More activities, especially outdoors. My state has 1 (possibly 2) days a year when people can fish without a license. "Free Fishing day" is a very popular outing.
How about a pet room, with a few lap cats and a big, friendly dog that likes to chase things and go on long walks? Also, have a seperate pet-free lounge.
Nursing homes are for nursing care. If a person needs help with meds, blood sugar checks, dressing changes, pain management. Wouldn't it be great if there was really an alternative...just a place to live and have a "resident assistant" for safety. I'll check into the Eden Alternative...maybe that is more like a home for people who can't live by themselves but require little or no nursing care.
Have you ever heard of Lenawee Medical Care Facility in Adrian, MI ? We've spent the last 10 + years making our nursing home a HOME. Our residents have choices. They get up when they want to. They eat what they want to. The staff are cross trained. We are an Eden facility. Check it out...It takes time, training and people who care...I'm proud to be a geriatric nurse!
Wow, I viewed the website and am so impressed! I could see myself working at a care facility like yours, a place where our elders are truly given dignity and honor in their older age. Thank you for mentioning the LMCF here. Well done!
Daydreaming about our perfect nursing home is a favorite pastime of my husband and I.
Low staff to patient ratios rates very high in "our" nursing home.
LTC companies staff too low to properly care for the patients yet they blame the nursing staff when there are multiple complaints and a poor reputation out in the community. In our opinion, higher staff ratios would solve those problems and make the company money at the same time. If the number of pts nurses/CNAs care for is low, they are able to give the excellent care that the LTC tell the community we give when we really dont because we dont have enough staff. If the number of pts one has to care for is low, then staff morale will go up because they are proud of the job they do and patient/family satisfaction would go up. Can you imagine how much money the LTC could actually make if their facility had a stellar reputation in the community and every bed was ALWAYS full and they had a waiting list a mile long to get in there? the staff turnover rate would drop which would also save them money from having to orient new hires.
We would be very careful of who we hired. Both of us have seen so many facilities that will basically hire anyone that puts in an application because they need people so bad. Background checks would be done BEFORE an offer of employment, drug tests are a must and will be given often during employments. Poor attitudes will not be tolerated in our facility. You will smile as you go in a room and make the pt feel as if you are their only patient or you will go somewhere else. We will DEMAND and accept nothing but the best of attitudes.
Rooms will have a comfy, home like feel. Lamps instead of those bright over head lights. The only time a patient will be in a wheelchair is if they are going somewhere in the facility and need the chair for transporation. No more of this sitting in their wheelchair all day. Rooms will have comfortable furniture, just like at home, and that is where the patients will sit while in their rooms. Comfortable sitting areas will be scattered throughout the facility as well.
A kitchen will be available for the patients that want to fix themselves a snack. The often unused stoves in the OT depts will be used often! For all the patients that love to cook, homemade food will be available from them kind of like your home kitchen.
Activites are a must. and not these wastetime activites. they will be productive activities. things like knitting circles/quilting/other crafts will be available. poker/bridge games/teams will be popular as will happy hour daily. Movies, books, books on CD, the internet will always be available.
Internal facility court yards will allow even confused patients to go outside safely. Outings will be often and suggested by the patients.
It goes without saying that there will be tons of plants, animals and children around. There will be a daycare on site for the children of employees and for the grandkids of the patients. The patients will have constant access to the daycare area.
What an amazing post!!!! Everything you say is soooo true!!! I promise you that if I make it to ninety and you tell me I cannot use salt on my food we are going to have a problem. The only thing I would add is what a previous poster said about the "Eden Alternative". I think every home should have a childcare facility attacted to the grounds for the staff (the children participate in intergenerational activities). Another thing is the animals...I love my cats and dog. I have always been an animal person and when I get old I want access to animals, not to look at but to pet and love. Someday I hope I will be able to make these things a reality!
My facility has a staff daycare onsite, and I love it!
:crying2:You have me dreaming that such a place exists! Amen to several of your ideas especially CNA's with no attitudes and no cell phones!!! AMEN!!!!! I cant count how many times I have seen a cna stop caring for her resident to answer a text message not from her boyfriend or a family member with a legitimate question but FROM ANOTHER CNA DOWN THE SAME HALL!!! How about a admissions coordinator who does their homework and will only give you at most 2 admissions in a shift? How about hiring only nurses and cna's who are mature responsible hardworking adults who dont call in three times a week or who are 45 minutes late for their shift every day?
Or a administration who will not allow anyone to work a 11-7/7-3 double because it is potnetialy dangerous?
Most of all how about a DON and an Administrator who not only tells you that their #1 priority is patient care but then backs it up!!! Does such a place exist? If so will crawl to it and will work for free!
What an amazing post!!!! Everything you say is soooo true!!! I promise you that if I make it to ninety and you tell me I cannot use salt on my food we are going to have a problem. The only thing I would add is what a previous poster said about the "Eden Alternative". I think every home should have a childcare facility attacted to the grounds for the staff (the children participate in intergenerational activities). Another thing is the animals...I love my cats and dog. I have always been an animal person and when I get old I want access to animals, not to look at but to pet and love. Someday I hope I will be able to make these things a reality!
I agree with the childcare on grounds. I worked in childcare for 12 years and we were in a building with a LTC and adult daycare (yeah that sounds dignified :stone) I know work in the LTC and from both sides it is amazing to watch the young and old interact and how much they benefit from each other.
Specializes in med-surg 5 years geriatrics 12 years.
Yes Virginia places like we mention do exist; unfortunately they are few and far between. The place I worked in did practice the Eden Alternative so pets and plants were plentiful. We had daycare between 2 wings and the little ones interacted with the residents frequently. We didn't call them residents either. They were our elders and were addressed as such.
I just spent about an hour browsing around the Eden website. For those of you that haven't looked at it...I highly recommend it. It's uplifting and heartening, and it gave me a lot of hope for the nursing homes of the future. I found an Eden Alternative Nursing VILLAGE about two hours from my home in North Carolina, and I think I will be visiting it very soon, probably this weekend. From what I've seen, I'd LOVE to work in the facility, and I'd relocate in a heartbeat to work there.
Ever since clinicals during my CNA 1 class, I've said that I would NEVER put my parents into a nursing home, because I've seen the behind-the-scenes stuff that goes on, and seen the CNAs who are simply there for the money, not because they care about the residents. But I believe that I'd be able to put my parents in an Eden Alternative facility and not have to worry about them (Are they being forced to get up at 4am? Are they being left sitting out in the hall with no way to get around?)
I'm also going to be printing out as much information as I can about the Eden Alternative and delivering it to my local nursing homes (not just the one where I work). Maybe reading the material will help the owners consider changing their policies and making their facility more like a home....
Ling07
135 Posts
I think all of the rules and regulations sometimes leads to a resident's failure to thrive. Sometimes I get annoyed with all of the "regulations."