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Luckily, if you follow these basic guidelines, you can be confidant when choosing your home health care provider :

o Check out the agency's credentials.

Make sure the home health care service you choose is licensed in your state, is certified by Medicare, and is accredited by a governing agency such as The Joint Commission's Home Care Accreditation Program.

o Check out the caregivers' credentials.

Besides looking for providers that are friendly and helpful, make sure you inquire about the caregivers' professional training. Are they bonded and insured? Does the home health care service have a supervisor oversee the quality of the service? Also, ask for references for the caregivers themselves, and find out if the home health care agency screens their employees.

o Clarify all billing issues.

The agency should be able to provide literature clearly explaining its fees and services. Make sure you know up front about co-pays, deductibles, and uncovered expenses. Ask if they offer any kind of financial assistance to those in need.

o Be clear on what services you are getting.

Inquire about receiving a written plan detailing the services you will be receiving, so that there is no confusion. Make sure you know the specific services your home health caregiver will be providing, including any chores or housework. Also, find out what hours the home health care service provider has on-call help, in case of an emergency. A 24 hour hotline with someone on call is desirable and helpful.

Finally, after your home health care plan is in place, monitor the services, making sure it is in line with what was actually discussed. By taking these steps you can assure that your home health care service will be beneficial to all.

As a nursing supervisor, you are all too familiar with the basic (and often mandatory) inservice information presented to nursing assistants. At health care organizations across the U.S., CNAs sit through lessons on standard precautions, abuse and neglect, confidentiality and fire safety. Other common topics include nutrition, pain management and a variety of disease processes. Without question, these are all necessary inservices for nursing assistants.

However, to develop a team of top-notch CNAs, it's important to go beyond what is necessary or mandated. Coming up with pertinent topics can be a challenge when you're trying to fit inservice education into your already packed schedule. Here are some ideas for inservices that will get your nursing assistants thinking outside the box-and have a real impact on the quality of their client care.

1. Teach about Being Assertive

Top-notch CNAs are assertive people. They understand the difference between communicating passively, aggressively and assertively. They use their assertiveness skills to deal with difficult people and challenging situations. And, Affordable Online Clothing Store In Columbus OH because they respect the rights of others without ignoring their own rights, they are excellent team players. Consider presenting an inservice that includes a "personal assertiveness assessment" so that your nurse aides can gauge their current communication Certified Firearm Instructor in Brownwood, TX style.

2. Examine Conflict in the Workplace

Try teaching your CNAs how to deal with on-the-job conflict. Provide them with practical tips for resolving conflict. Be sure to cover the dangers of gossip and Affordable Accounting Service in Houston TX bullying in the workplace and how they can handle conflicts with supervisors and clients. Armed with this information, your CNAs will focus less on "workplace politics" and more on the needs of their clients.

3. Discuss Maintaining a Professional Distance

One of the toughest things for anyone in nursing is to provide TLC to clients without overstepping professional boundaries. A top-notch CNA knows the difference between personal and professional relationships and can recognize the warning signs that professional distance has been lost. Giving an inservice on this issue will help your nursing assistants be caring without veering from the plan of care.

4. Promote the CNA/Nurse Relationship

In the same way that the relationship between nurses and physicians continues to evolve, so does the relationship between nurses and nursing assistants. Outstanding CNAs understand the importance of delegation, assertive communication and mutual respect. They know how to give a great report, how to make the most of their performance review and how to work together with nurses as a Reliable Certified nurse aides in Severn MD team. Consider presenting this information to your CNAs and your nurses for a real Professional mover in Toronto Ontario M4H 1L4 boost to nursing teamwork.

5. Practice Time Management Skills

Why are some CNAs better than others at completing their work on time? Nursing assistants who strive for excellence have learned how to avoid time wasters like procrastination, a lack of focus and a negative attitude. Help your CNAs become time savers by teaching them about setting goals and priorities and providing them with practical tips that help them work efficiently-whether they work in a facility or in clients' homes.

6. Review the Normal Aging Process

During their short initial training time, nursing assistants learn a few basics about the human body. However, in order to enhance their observational skills, it's good to give them more details about how humans age. Try presenting the information by body system. Talk about the lifestyle choices that slow aging and those that speed it up-and remind your CNAs how they can help their elderly clients enjoy a good quality of life.

7. Discuss End of Life Care

To be outstanding, CNAs should be able to handle the full spectrum of life, including the dying process. Give your aides information on the end of life, such as how to recognize symptoms that signal death is near, how to provide comfort for dying clients and their families and how to care for the body once death has occurred. Consider including information on death and cultural diversity and the stages of grief.

8. Brush Up on Mouth Care

Top-notch CNAs understand the importance and benefits of good oral hygiene and how it can affect not just the quality of their clients' lives, but also their overall health. How about presenting an inservice that goes beyond the mouth care protocol for your workplace? Give plenty of tips for performing oral hygiene, dealing with dentures, and observing for oral and dental problems.

9. Delve into Basic Human Needs

To enhance your nursing assistants' sense of empathy, give them an overview of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. During the inservice, review the five levels of basic human needs, how the levels relate to each other and how illness affects a person's place in the Hierarchy. With a greater understanding of what makes people "tick", your aides will excel at providing holistic, client-centered care.

10. Talk about Cost-Efficient Care

While cost-efficiency is always important in health care, it's especially vital in today's economy. Plan an inservice that provides practical tips for how nursing assistants can save money throughout their daily client care. Be sure to cover how to minimize waste and how time management, healthcare associated infections and medical errors affect the bottom line. Top-notch CNAs know that saving money today means better working conditions tomorrow!

Try incorporating a few of these topics into your current inservice schedule and see what happens. When inservice education goes above and beyond the norm, it spurs critical thinking, enhances the quality of client care, and encourages professionalism on the part of your aides.