Resident Care Conferences/Staffings

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I am looking for suggestions in improving resident care conferences/staffings. Our current approach is an interdisciplinary meeting involving social services, RN manager, and a member of the therapy team (dietary is in attendance on occasion). The resident and any family/friend is welcome to attend. This usually translates into 5 to 6 people involved in the meeting. Having only worked in two facilities, both of the same organization, I can only assume that this is more or less the standard in long-term care. In today's current environment, organizations need to find ways to exceed customer expectations. This can prove difficult to do with seemingly, ever-increasing staffing cuts, budget limitations, and securing qualified employees. I am looking for tips and techniques to improving the experience for residents and their families. This may include location, approach, and documentation. For example, at times we will attempt to meet the family in a "living room" setting as opposed to the "board room" approach. Another might be offering coffee, juice, and water to those in attendance. I think that this can help all of us in making our residents and families feel more welcome. I am hoping that as this post evolves it will help each of us in seeing the different approaches out there and give our residents what they deserve.

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"In today's current environment, organizations need to find ways to exceed customer expectations."

Suddenly nauseated, I stopped reading at that point.

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"In today's current environment, organizations need to find ways to exceed customer expectations."

Suddenly nauseated, I stopped reading at that point.

Yes, we've all heard those words before. Nauseating...maybe. True...absolutely. The bottom line is that there are many choices out there. To not surprise our residents and their families, translates to punching a clock, going through the motions, and worrying about our own needs and not the resident. Again, I am looking for ways to IMPROVE communication with residents and their families as it pertains to the care conference/staffing.

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What problems are you having at the conferences? We rarely get family members attending but the biggest thing we give them is an outlet to express their worries. A lot of the meeting is generally spent reassuring them that their loved one is being cared for. We certainly don't offer beverages. We have a gard enough time getting them to leave. I generally have to stand up and thank them for coming.

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Working on a short-term rehab unit, we frequently get family members as most of our residents wish to return to their previous living arrangements or we suggest assisted living of some sort if necessary. We also often have difficulty wrapping up the conference so I can see where it can be difficult to offer beverages and encourage a lengthy stay. My approach is to make them feel welcome and at home, while at the same time maintaining a professional approach. It's not so much that we are having problems but rather I am looking for ways to improve upon our existing approach. With new facilities emerging in the surrounding area, we have to compete with things like private rooms for each resident, upgraded facilities, wifi for all residents, etc. I am trying to stand out in an environment where budget cuts are having a direct effect on patient satisfaction. Some things we can fix, some will come with reform, and some may not be fixed in our lifetime. I am looking at each area we can improve on to give our residents and their families something to talk about, thus improving word of mouth in the positive sense.

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I don't think it's going to come in the care conferences. We are looking to improve our food service. The rehab wing is really nice already and the consistent thing people want is better food and more choices. Food you can do without massive upgrades.

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Yes, care conference isn't the time of place for this. How about a family meeting aranged at a different time? You can do a more one on one and have more time to discuss things. We have a Caring Partners program. Each member of the management team takes an assignment of rooms. They are a point person for those residents/ families. This is more about customer service that the clinical/ nursing aspect. Maybe this type of program is what you want?

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What problems are you having at the conferences? We rarely get family members attending but the biggest thing we give them is an outlet to express their worries. A lot of the meeting is generally spent reassuring them that their loved one is being cared for. We certainly don't offer beverages. We have a gard enough time getting them to leave. I generally have to stand up and thank them for coming.

We had to strictly enforce conference start times, with each resident's family expected to be there on time or we would proceed without them. We also had to set timers to let family members, especially ones who wanted to argue every point of care, that time was up and it was another family's turn to discuss their own loved one. We served them no refreshments, making sure that they understood that this was a time for business and not pleasure. They were welcome to bring up any concerns they had, but they were not welcome to quote history and rehash things that had been addressed time and time before whether they were happy with the outcome or not. They were given an agenda beforehand to help them to formulate questions/concerns AND to keep them on task, and we always reinforced for them that they were welcome to bring questions and concerns to us at any time, not just conference time, for immediate attention.

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Yes, we've all heard those words before. Nauseating...maybe. True...absolutely. The bottom line is that there are many choices out there. To not surprise our residents and their families, translates to punching a clock, going through the motions, and worrying about our own needs and not the resident. Again, I am looking for ways to IMPROVE communication with residents and their families as it pertains to the care conference/staffing.

Beverages and nice upholstery do little to help resistive families focus and accept reality. Keeping them on track during conferences will help to improve communication more than offering them perks will. Make them feel that they are part of the care process, but don't let them feel that they are running either the care OR the conference. Once they feel like they call all of the shots you'll lose communication. Be sure that they understand that conferences are held to allow them to be part of the process, not in charge of it.

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The most important thing is that the meeting is organized and to the point. A lot of time does not need to be wasted on eating food, drinking coffee and socializing. Besides there are medical records being brought to the meeting and paperwork that needs to be filled out and signed. No one needs coffee stains, donut grease and food on the paper work. If the families have to wait for any length of time before they go into a meeting then it is OK to give them food and beverages in the waiting area. Since the meetings involve talking I sure would hate for anyone to aspirate on coffee or choke on a donut, or talk with food in their mouth. With HIPPA guidelines you cannot have these meetings in any area accessed by anyone who is not directly involved with the meeting. The most important info. I try to get from family and res. is what their preferences are so I can individualize their care.

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