Research.
How can I progress the care of patients in assisted living facilities through demonstrating actual concern for their wellbeing?
Val Saintsbury said, “Nurses dispense comfort, compassion, and caring without even a prescription. Nursing is an extremely important career, and ever since eighth grade, I have wanted to be a nurse in order to help people. Hoping to become a nurse, I desire to show patients that I love them and care for their wellbeing. I wanted to know if nursing was definitely want I should do, so currently, I am interning at an assisted living facility. I genuinely love it, but I have seen how many residents in assisted living are overlooked and not cared for properly. I have grown close to the residents, and I desire to see their care improved. Also, I will be completing my CNA course next year. I will have to do clinicals in an assisted living facility, and I may possibly start working in an assisted living facility within the next year. I want to know how I, as a high school intern and a future CNA, can improve the care of some of the most vulnerable people in our community.
Going into my internship, I did not know much about assisted living facilities, and I still am not an expert. I do know that assisted living facilities are homes for the elderly. They are more than just a place of work or business. Also, I realized that nurses do much more than just make sure the residents are doing well. They have to feed, clean, wake up, give medicine, chart, put to bed, deal with family members, talk to the residents, and so much more. I believe one of the biggest issues is not having correct staffing. I previously assumed that nurses in assisted living were just lazy, but further research reveals that nurses who work in assisted living are overworked and underpaid.
Researching my topic did not happen to be an extremely difficult task. I used Galileo to find my sources for my annotated bibliographies. There were actually quite a few scholarly articles about nursing homes and neglect in nursing homes. Many studies by various groups have been conducted in order to find out more about what residents truly want and why their care is not the best. I also had an amazing interview with an extremely skilled nurse that I shadow at the assisted living facility. She gave me much insight to the problem, and she helped me solidify some assumptions I had in regards to assisted living. I would say that I conducted a well thought out search for information that contains no bias.
As stated in my essential question, there is a lack of genuine concern for the residents in assisted living. Much of my research suggested that this lack of concern does not occur because the nurses are terrible people. Rather, most of these nurses are working because it is the only job that they can find. The nurses are tired, frustrated, and most of them have forgotten the joy of helping people, because they are struggling themselves.
McCloskey and her associates explore the different roles of nurses in assisted living facilities and the fact that many nurses are overworked in assisted living facilities. They say, “Staffing in nursing homes is a complex issue that has been a point of discussion in practice, policy and academic circles. Part of the difficulty in managing staff is the fact that nursing homes operate with limited financial resources, are highly regulated in terms of mandated staffing requirements, and are required to care for residents with increasingly complex needs” Problems in assisted living facilities are complex, but they are serious. Major changes should be implemented in order to improve the care of those in assisted living facilities.
In my interview with Robin, an extremely knowledgeable RN who is working at an assisted living facility, she voiced some of her concerns about assisted living. I asked her how we could improve assisted living facilities. She said that assisted living facilities need better staffing and better pay, especially for the CNAs. The CNAs do the most physically and emotionally draining job in an assisted living facility, yet they receive the worst income.
Harrison, Jill, and Susan Frampton, in their article, "Resident-Centered Care In 10 U.S. Nursing Homes: Residents' Perspectives," research how residents of assisted living facilities should and desire to be treated. One resident of an assisted living facility said, “‘It means that this is our home. You have to respect people when you go into their home. You have to knock and ask to come in, not just barge in the door. It means the girls [staff members] act like they are in our home because they are.’” Those working in assisted living facilities must remember that they are there to love and help those in assisted living. The nurses must respect the desires and comforts of the residents.
Many of my presumptions concerning problems in assisted living facilities were confirmed. There are many problems, and, as I assumed, most of these problems stem from the staffing. What I was unsure about was why exactly assisted living facilities had worse staffing than hospitals. I discovered that at most assisted living facilities, the pay is greatly inferior to the pay at a hospital. Therefore, most nurses who work at an assisted living facility are there simply because it was the only job available. One way that I can improve the current assisted living system is by making sure that nursing students and future CNAs are properly informed about what life and work is like in an assisted living facility. Time and effort must be put into making our assisted living facilities exceptional.
Works Cited
Harrison, Jill, and Susan Frampton. "Resident-Centered Care In 10 U.S. Nursing Homes: Residents' Perspectives." Journal Of Nursing Scholarship 49.1 (2017): 6-14. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 14 Feb. 2017.
Phillips, Linda R., and Carolyn Ziminski. "The Public Health Nursing Role In Elder Neglect In Assisted Living Facilities." Public Health Nursing 29.6 (2012): 499-509. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 18 Jan. 2017
McCloskey, Rose, et al. "How Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses and Resident Aides Spend Time in Nursing Homes: An Observational Study." International Journal Of Nursing Studies 52.9 (2015): 1475-1483. PsycINFO. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.
Going into my internship, I did not know much about assisted living facilities, and I still am not an expert. I do know that assisted living facilities are homes for the elderly. They are more than just a place of work or business. Also, I realized that nurses do much more than just make sure the residents are doing well. They have to feed, clean, wake up, give medicine, chart, put to bed, deal with family members, talk to the residents, and so much more. I believe one of the biggest issues is not having correct staffing. I previously assumed that nurses in assisted living were just lazy, but further research reveals that nurses who work in assisted living are overworked and underpaid.
Researching my topic did not happen to be an extremely difficult task. I used Galileo to find my sources for my annotated bibliographies. There were actually quite a few scholarly articles about nursing homes and neglect in nursing homes. Many studies by various groups have been conducted in order to find out more about what residents truly want and why their care is not the best. I also had an amazing interview with an extremely skilled nurse that I shadow at the assisted living facility. She gave me much insight to the problem, and she helped me solidify some assumptions I had in regards to assisted living. I would say that I conducted a well thought out search for information that contains no bias.
As stated in my essential question, there is a lack of genuine concern for the residents in assisted living. Much of my research suggested that this lack of concern does not occur because the nurses are terrible people. Rather, most of these nurses are working because it is the only job that they can find. The nurses are tired, frustrated, and most of them have forgotten the joy of helping people, because they are struggling themselves.
McCloskey and her associates explore the different roles of nurses in assisted living facilities and the fact that many nurses are overworked in assisted living facilities. They say, “Staffing in nursing homes is a complex issue that has been a point of discussion in practice, policy and academic circles. Part of the difficulty in managing staff is the fact that nursing homes operate with limited financial resources, are highly regulated in terms of mandated staffing requirements, and are required to care for residents with increasingly complex needs” Problems in assisted living facilities are complex, but they are serious. Major changes should be implemented in order to improve the care of those in assisted living facilities.
In my interview with Robin, an extremely knowledgeable RN who is working at an assisted living facility, she voiced some of her concerns about assisted living. I asked her how we could improve assisted living facilities. She said that assisted living facilities need better staffing and better pay, especially for the CNAs. The CNAs do the most physically and emotionally draining job in an assisted living facility, yet they receive the worst income.
Harrison, Jill, and Susan Frampton, in their article, "Resident-Centered Care In 10 U.S. Nursing Homes: Residents' Perspectives," research how residents of assisted living facilities should and desire to be treated. One resident of an assisted living facility said, “‘It means that this is our home. You have to respect people when you go into their home. You have to knock and ask to come in, not just barge in the door. It means the girls [staff members] act like they are in our home because they are.’” Those working in assisted living facilities must remember that they are there to love and help those in assisted living. The nurses must respect the desires and comforts of the residents.
Many of my presumptions concerning problems in assisted living facilities were confirmed. There are many problems, and, as I assumed, most of these problems stem from the staffing. What I was unsure about was why exactly assisted living facilities had worse staffing than hospitals. I discovered that at most assisted living facilities, the pay is greatly inferior to the pay at a hospital. Therefore, most nurses who work at an assisted living facility are there simply because it was the only job available. One way that I can improve the current assisted living system is by making sure that nursing students and future CNAs are properly informed about what life and work is like in an assisted living facility. Time and effort must be put into making our assisted living facilities exceptional.
Works Cited
Harrison, Jill, and Susan Frampton. "Resident-Centered Care In 10 U.S. Nursing Homes: Residents' Perspectives." Journal Of Nursing Scholarship 49.1 (2017): 6-14. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 14 Feb. 2017.
Phillips, Linda R., and Carolyn Ziminski. "The Public Health Nursing Role In Elder Neglect In Assisted Living Facilities." Public Health Nursing 29.6 (2012): 499-509. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 18 Jan. 2017
McCloskey, Rose, et al. "How Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses and Resident Aides Spend Time in Nursing Homes: An Observational Study." International Journal Of Nursing Studies 52.9 (2015): 1475-1483. PsycINFO. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.