Accreditation process provides opportunity to reflect on good work
‘You really do see how much you have accomplished’
Thursday March 13, 2008 -- Deron Hamel
Although the days leading up to an accreditation assessment at a long-term care home can be anxiety-filled, when all is said and done staff members are left with a sense of accomplishment, says Mary Lynn Lester.

From March 3-7, surveyors from the Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation (CCHSA) visited 16 of OMNI’s 17 long-term care homes as part of the company’s corporate accreditation process.

The purpose of accreditation is to ensure that organizations continuously evaluate, improve and report their success and growth.

While each of OMNI’s homes has been independently accredited in the past, this is the first time the company has sought corporate accreditation.

Lester, administrator and director of care at West Lake Terrace in Picton, says the recent assessment opened the eyes of a lot of staff members and let them take notice of the successes the home has achieved.

She equates the process to cleaning a room.

“When you take all the furniture out and you get into the corners it really is a healthy process and you really do see how much you have accomplished,” she says.

Lester notes that long-term care is a demanding profession and people working in homes don’t always take the time to recognize or enjoy their accomplishments.

With this accreditation process, the surveyors complimented staff members in their efforts to provide the best quality of life to the 47 residents living in the home.

“It was a very positive experience,” says Lester of the accreditation process. “We felt like we wanted more time to tell them about the stuff that we do.”

Some of the things which impressed the surveyors, says Lester, included the availability of the home’s physician, as well as the fact the home was recommended as a pilot home for supplier Medical Pharmacies’ electronic medication administration record (EMAR).

When the surveyors arrived at West Lake last week, Erin Fraser, the home’s nutritional care manager and environmental services manager, and Reg Windatt, the maintenance supervisor, gave them a tour of the home.

The surveyors took notice of some of the things staff members and volunteers do at the home — such as help residents with quilting projects — which are daily routines.

“Little things like that don’t seem like such a big deal to us because we do these things all the time,” says Fraser. “We don’t always realize that the little things we do make a big impression.”

What did your home learn from accreditation? To share your stories, please contact deron(at)axiomnews.ca.

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