Open dialogue engages staff members during accrediting process
‘It was very staff-involved’
Friday March 14, 2008 -- Deron Hamel
When surveyors from the Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation (CCHSA) made a recent visit to Almonte Country Haven, administrator Rick Gourlie was impressed with their focus on the collective efforts of staff members.

From March 3-7, surveyors from the 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.

During past accreditation processes at the Ottawa-area long-term care home, Gourlie says surveyors would assess departments and teams separately.

“This time they weren’t so much interested in the teams themselves, as the (whole) team, and the approach that we take to care in that regard,” he says. “This was a much more reflective accreditation process.”

By performing the assessment on the home as a whole, rather than looking at specifics, Gourlie says he and other staff members found it to be a much more relaxing process.

“It was very staff-involved,” says Darlene Thibault, the home’s life enrichment co-ordinator. “The learning process was much more open. And openness is an OMNI value.”

One of the things that impressed the surveyors was the home’s effort to collect and store information for manuals to help foster best practices. For example, when Almonte has evacuation drills staff members will take note of the successes, the challenges and the things they learned. This information is then kept on file.

This assessment also saw a lot more open dialogue between staff members and surveyors, which helped the process, notes Gourlie. By having an open forum for discussion, Gourlie says a series of chain reactions were set in motion, with one area of discussion leading into another.

“One person would be talking about the admission process and the next thing you know they’re into infection control,” says Gourlie. “(The discussion) bounced all over the place, but it was good in that regard.”

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

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