Long-term care providers must “invest in people” working in their facilities before the industry can begin to eliminate its ongoing workforce shortage, a panel of experts said last week.
Waiting on rescue from the federal level before tackling local staffing issues would be a major mistake for providers, said Brent Willett, president and CEO of the Iowa Health Care Association. He was one of several panelists to address the workforce crisis, potential barriers and the importance of providers showing greater respect for caregivers during a session of McKnight’s inaugural Workforce Development Forum Thursday.
Willett predicted true workforce solutions won’t be found through increased federal reimbursements, but rather in solutions crafted at the state level. He cautioned against providers “waiting around for a federal [fix].”
“As a sector, we are going to have to get away from focusing exclusively on rate reimbursement advancements,” he said. “We know how important they are going to be but they are going to become harder and hard to come by.”
Other speakers included Lori Porter, co-founder and CEO of the National Association of Health Care Assistants; Joshua White, chief operating officer for Health Services Management; and Charles Turner, founder and CEO of staffing platform KARE. The session, now available on-demand, was led by McKnight’s Senior Living Content Editor Kimberly Bonvissuto.
Porter noted that nursing homes have “a lot to offer” prospective employees, but she also said facilities “are not trusted right now among people, employees, nurses and nurses aides.”
“The fact that we’re still studying workforce blows my mind. This isn’t rocket science. People do want to make a difference in this world,” Porter said. “I know that if we can invest in people — invest in people who want to make a difference and realize there’s a difference to be made — they will rise to the calling.”
White expressed optimism about the industry’s ability to solve the crisis. He emphasized leaders being more engaged in the recruitment and retention process, communicating better with current frontline workers, being more creative with benefit offerings, leaning on the local community, rewarding loyal team members and offering advancement opportunities.
“That’s why I’m optimistic,” White said. “I think we can do those things and be successful.”
Turner added the tone of the biggest misconceptions among operators is that if they build a stronger culture they’ll have a more loyal workforce. The true difference maker is respect, he said.
“We’ve seen organizations when they really do empower their frontline caregivers and really respect them as individuals and put programs together to make sure the leadership in the building respects that worker, the attraction [and] retention is through the rough,” Turner said.
