How To Use Chronic Disease Education To Build An Elite Staff
Kenyon HomeCare Consulting • March 16, 2021
According to the CDC, chronic diseases are the leading cause of death and disability in our country. In 2012, approximately half of all adults in the United States suffered from at least one chronic health disease. What’s worse, one out of four adults had two or more of these life-altering conditions. If that’s not enough to grab your attention, consider the fact that seven of the top ten causes of death in 2010 were chronic diseases. Chronic Disease Education Many elderly adults suffer from numerous chronic illnesses, which are on the rise in the United States. This epidemic results in the majority of healthcare dollars being spent on the diagnosis, treatment, and management of these diseases. Where does your healthcare organization fit into the picture? With the increase of chronic conditions, clients and their families need elite caregivers who are properly trained to help care for and manage their chronic illnesses.
Chronic Disease Education and Your Staff
When considering how to create an elite staff that is certified to offer the specialized care that clients with chronic ailments require, consider setting guidelines regarding which employees should participate in your chronic disease education program. To maximize the chronic disease education you provide, choose employees who have shown loyalty to your organization, as well as a desire to succeed and move forward in their careers. Some factors to take into account when making your decision:
Time on the job – While length of employment doesn’t always equal ability, or even loyalty, it’s a good indicator as to which employees are likely to remain at your organization. These are the people who make good candidates for your chronic disease education program.
Reviews – Yearly reviews are a good place to look when determining which employees might make up your elite staff. Those who consistently achieve good reviews display their willingness to work hard, as well as their ability to get the job done well.
Future goals – If you’re unaware of your employees’ goals, you need to ask questions. Those who plan on staying with your organization long-term or want to advance their careers in the healthcare field are good candidates for advanced training.
nce you’ve created guidelines for choosing your elite caregiver team, take the next step toward success by providing easy-to-access, sufficient chronic disease education. .
Chronic Disease Education and Your Bottom Line
By building an elite staff, you give your organization an edge over your competition. Clients, their families and referral sources seek knowledgeable caregivers who can help manage client conditions, recover from setbacks, avoid hospitalizations /rehospitalizations, and prevent complications. While employing an elite staff benefits your clients, it also significantly benefits your organization – and your bottom line. Here are a few of the many ways:
Higher employee retention – As an owner or manager, you know the stress employee turnover has on an organization. It costs time and money to find and train replacements, and to fill in the responsibility gaps during the transition. When you provide advanced education, employees are happier because they see a career path within your organization. Happy employees lead to less turnover. To maximize this effect, consider providing additional benefits to staff members who complete the education and become elite employees. Such benefits can include:
Paid vacation
Increase in pay
Health insurance
Recognition on name tags
Increase in referrals – When your organization is known to have an elite staff, clients and professionals alike will send more customers your way. It’s a simple, effective project that yields significant results.
When you’re ready to make the jump toward building an elite staff, chronic disease education is the first step. Take a look at Aide University today to learn about the numerous benefits of providing chronic disease education for your aides.
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HOPE Question and Answer Repository
Today, this article will look at little different than out typical articles. We all know the costs of losing employees and trying to hire and train new ones. It is exhausting and expensive. So, we think about our wages and benefit packages all the time. What can we do differently that makes people stay? We can’t change the job and we don’t want to keep people that don’t like the work itself. So, how do we acknowledge employees in a way that is valuable to them and that our businesses can afford to do? 5 Things To Consider About Employee Recognition At Your Christmas Party: 1. Years of Service: These can be based on milestone work anniversaries (5, 10, 15 yrs, etc.). If a person has been at your agency 11 years, you pull them up and acknowledge them in the group of employees who have been there at least 10 years up until the time they hit the 15 years landmark. This way longevity is recognized yearly. 2. Special Employee awards: Now, this may be difficult if your staff is very small, but acknowledge the employee who has gone the extra mile in the job they do. Tell the story. The employee needs to know when the employer is proud of the work that has been done. Consider a plaque or certificate. Don’t minimize the value of the employee having them to display. 3. Acknowledge all employees in the mix: Because we are a clinical industry, the administrative staff is often overlooked on day-to-day operations. Ultimately, don’t miss the chance to acknowledge the employee who was able to catch billing errors or collect on a large account. Staff doesn’t like to hear about money, but those types of collections keep Christmas bonuses in place! So, make sure the other staff knows the accomplishments of the finance department or the office manager that every caller loves to speak to. Don't ever forget the IT staff that is on call more than any clinical person in your agency! 4. Letters from the administration: Add a personal note to your staff either collectively or individually depending on the size of your agency. If you are larger, there are employees you don’t often see or get to talk to on a regular basis, so take the time so send a note with that Christmas bonus. 5. Consider the Christmas bonus: Listen, some of you can afford to do substantial monetary bonuses and that is fantastic. However, if you are not in that position, consider something in its place. Maybe small gas cards go with the letter from administration. With the cost of groceries, consider something that helps with the costs of daily living for employees. Big box gift cards in your area will always be used. You may do a lot of these things on a yearly basis to employees. All this being said, it doesn’t mean there aren’t reasons for acknowledgement throughout the year. However, your annual Christmas party is a good way to do it collectively. Between your annual party, write the individual cards to employees when you hear a patient interaction worthy of praise. Or, maybe you buy a gas card for the employee who has picked up extra shifts and always shows up on time. Ultimately, employees will feel valued. You will not regret the time, effort, and energy put into these efforts. Merry Christmas! If you want help with recruitment and retention strategies for your agency, please call Kenyon Homecare Consulting at 206-721-5091 or contact us online today.