Staff recruitment on the agenda
Tuesday February 19, 2008 -- Camille Jensen
Returning from the first annual OMNIway forum, director of care Jackie Maxwell says focusing on the issue of recruiting and retaining staff was extremely helpful.

Long-term care homes are beginning to feel the pinch in staffing numbers and nursing shortages are predicted to increase in following years.

Maxwell, director of care at Village Green, explains that new nurses and registered staff often don’t look for jobs in long-term care.  Instead she says many seek out hospitals because they feel their skills would be better utilized in a faster paced environment.

“It’s a misperception that (you) lose your skills entering long-term care,” says Maxwell. “You certainly don’t.”

She says the industry offers great opportunities for skill building and critical thinking because doctors aren’t available on-site. 

This, says Maxwell, means the staff members have to rely on their own assessment skills, as opposed to the doctor’s.

Long-term care homes also use specialized machines for wound care and exercise different therapy methods, says Maxwell.

Looking to promote the long-term care industry as an exciting first choice, the OMNI retreat had a brainstorm session on possible ways to entice new entrants.

The group discussed the option of creating OMNI pamphlets that would introduce the company and its values to potential entrants in the field.

Maxwell believes having an OMNI-wide promotion that explained the benefits of working for the company would be an effective way to generate new interest.

Devoting an entire session to the staffing issue helped prompt Village Green into becoming more proactive when searching for staff.

“One thing everybody recognized is that putting an ad in the paper doesn’t necessarily generate responses,” says Maxwell.

She says her home is planning on having booths at local job fairs promoting long-term care as a first option. 

The Selby long-term care home is also looking for colleges that would be interested in creating student placements at the home.

Maxwell feels if students could experience the environment in the homes, they would be more interested in long-term care.