Culture Change

The main nursing home trade association shines a light on culture change.

Interesting.

It’s no secret that adopting culture change principles in a nursing home is the right thing to do. But a new report from the Commonwealth Fund finds that it may be better for business too.

Take staff retention. Researchers found that 59% of nursing homes who implemented seven or more culture change intiatives, like letting residents determine their daily schedule or asking nursing assistants to participate in care planning, had improved their staff retention rate since they implemented these initiatives.

That’s not all. Occupancy rates went up and operating costs fell as nursing homes adopted more programs that empowered direct care staff and focused on residents’ needs and preferences.

That’s not to say these programs aren’t costly. 31% of nursing homes surveyed reported that cost was the biggest barrier to implmenting more culture change programs in their facility. This survey, however, begs the question: does embracing culture change give nursing homes a better “bang for their buck?”