If you are seeking employment in long-term care, a helpful database is just a few clicks away.
McKnight’s’ Web site offers an excellent site for job hunters as well as employers. Just scroll down on the home page (www.mcknights.com) to “Latest Jobs” in the middle column. Click on a job posting. The link will take you to a general site where companies can post positions, and job seekers can post resumes and view openings. Jobs are posted as they are submitted. Viewers also can locate the site by clicking on the “Jobs” link on the main navigation bar at the top of the McKnight’s home page.
If you receive the Mcknights.com Daily Update, you will also see postings under the section at the right, called “Latest Jobs.” (To subscribe to the Daily Update, go to the “Newsletters” tab on the navigation bar on the home page.)
So long-term care employers and employees, what are you waiting for?
Caring caregivers
Speaking of jobs, a recent survey offered both hopeful and discouraging signs about nursing home nursing assistants. The good news: Assistants’ hearts are in the right place. The bad news: Poor job conditions are forcing them to reconsider their places of employment.
The 2004-2005 National Nursing Assistant Survey, released last month by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, revealed that most nursing home nursing assistants enter the profession because they “like helping other people.” Nearly 62% of respondents said that this was the main reason for taking their jobs.
“Caring for others” was the main reason that most respondents stayed in their current job, the survey found. Most also said they would become a nursing assistant again, and recommend the job to a family member or friend.
But the survey, prepared by the Division of Health Care Statistics, Long-Term Care Statistics Branch, also illustrated a disheartening situation: Many are not satisfied. Nearly half of nursing assistants in 2004-2005 said that they might leave the facility in the next year. The main reasons? Poor pay, better opportunities elsewhere, problems with facility policies or working conditions, too many residents to care for, and other usual complaints.
Surprised? You shouldn’t be. When nursing homes are competing with fast-food chains for caregivers, you know something’s off-kilter.
But accepting this reality reflects a lack of thoughtfulness on the part of the industry. As this survey indicates, nursing homes are not getting just any old low-wage job seekers. They are getting people who care about their work. How many professions can actually say that about their employees?
