Recently, I was told a story about a man who lived in a long-term care facility. Maybe this resident is like someone who has lived with you. Every day at 3:00 pm he would take off his clothes and walk down the hall naked, much to the horror of the women who lived there. The staff tried to change or redirect this daily happening, but to no avail. What would you do?
A staff member had an idea. They suggested to talk with family to see if they could discover what compelled him to undress. Family members explained that he worked in construction. Each day at 3:00 pm, he would come home from work and change his clothes. He didn’t want to engage with family until after he put on new clothes and cleaned up from the day’s work.
So, staff members decided to try something. Just before 3:00 pm, they laid out a fresh set of clothing on his bed and waited. Amazingly, he undressed himself and then put on his new clothes! They continued this daily ritual, allowing the man to follow his familiar routine and solved the problem with out-of-the-box thinking. The way in which he behaved changed with such a small adjustment!
We in long-term care face daily challenges that can sometimes seem insurmountable. A higher acuity of need, less resources to do our jobs, and greater demands on time can be daunting. I shared some of these challenges with my sister and she had a unique thought. As we seek support to keep us afloat, why not consider reaching out to one another? Some of the most fascinating conversations that I have had in my capacity as an educator have been when others share strategies. What if I were to provide the opportunity for all of you to connect with one another? A forum to ask for advice or help and a place of community where everyone’s efforts could be supported and applauded?
For the moment, feel free to share here and once something is more formalized, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, I will convey a few scenarios here and encourage you to reach out with your fabulous ideas!
You work in a facility located in a rural area. Either you are remote, as far as one hour from a more plentifully populated area, or in a community that is shrinking due to lack of jobs or money. The ability to fully staff your facility has become your biggest issue. What would you do if this were you?
One facility that I work with has created a Recruitment and Retention PIP (Performance Improvement Project). Utilizing brainstorming techniques, root cause analysis and conflict resolution strategies, they are getting to the heart of their problem and implementing some practices that they hope will ease this burden. What would you do next?
The way in which we communicate can be the biggest impediment in our daily interactions with one another, (staff at all levels) our residents and families. What would you do if bullying, contentious interactions and disrespect among all of the aforementioned groups existed in you facility community?
I’m looking forward to our collective conversation!
Stay tuned for my next blog on the topic of Change!