The Development of a Standardized In-Service Training for Long-Term Care Employees in Utah

Long-term care (skilled nursing care and assisted living) in Utah faces a number of challenges in the coming years. The aging population is undoubtedly going to put more strain on an already stressed health care system. Increasing demands from more stringent rules and regulations, and increased consumer expectations coupled with a recent decrease in Medicaid reimbursement rates will change the current system of residential health care for elderly individuals. Direct care staff, the primary caregivers in most long-term care facilities, suffers from low pay, high workloads and inadequate training. These factors coupled with lack of control and lack of respect from supervisors contributes to a high rate of turnover (Wright, 2005). This project contains three sections that are outlined as follows: Section one of the project will discuss the importance for continuous in-service training for staff in longterm care facilities. Section two will discuss the requirements and regulations for inservice training as outlined in the Utah Administrative Code. Section three will provide an overview of the training modules. This overview will include training objectives, content, methods and materials. Following the overview are the training modules. Six modules will be presented. As mentioned previously, module topics for the inservice trainings will be applicable in both skilled nursing and assisted living settings. Federal and State rules and regulations require a variety of trainings for direct care staff covering various clinical and non-clinical topics. The six modules selected for this project are non-clinical in nature and were designed to be simplistic so that facility administrators or social workers are able to lead discussions. The modules were also designed to give facility staff the ability to plug in their facility policies as needed. For 2 more clinical discussions, such as nursing skills, facilities would likely bring in specialists in those areas or utilize their registered nurse. The modules for this project are intended to supplement the current training program while providing some consistency in long-term care facilities throughout the state of Utah. The six modules are as follows: 1. Resident Rights 2. Restraints and Use 3. Communication 4. Housekeeping and Sanitation 5. Confidentiality 6. Abuse, Neglect & Exploitation The goal of this project is to bring consistency to in-service trainings across the state of Utah and to facilitate a higher standard of training throughout long-term care facilities. The expected and hopeful end result is a higher quality of life and quality of care for residents in long-term care. These trainings also hope to reduce turnover in long-term care facilities through empowerment and education.