How to Hire for your Senior Living Community

Independent living is a common goal for older people and often they need care and comfort to lead healthy and happier lives. They need help with activities of daily living, like personal hygiene, safety supervision, ambulation, housekeeping, meal preparation, shopping, and medication reminder. In fact, this is part of the reason they join assisted living homes in the first place. Having the right care team is the best way to ensure these adults get the most out of their stay in your facility. But the right team doesn’t just happen. It starts from the people you hire to be part of your senior living community. And as you may already know, hiring caregivers is one of the biggest challenges many senior homes face.

Representatives from most facilities across the US cite caregiver shortage as their top concern, far ahead of other threats like increasing minimum wage and unrelenting competition. Add that to the high nurse turnover rates, and you start understanding how tricky the situation is.

And the current industry growth isn’t making the situation any better. Today, caregivers have options when it comes to where to work. Meaning, you’re competing for employees against retail companies, fast food chains, and giants like Walmart and Amazon. Unless you have a well-thought out onboarding and retention program, your business might take a huge hit.

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In today's job market, signs like these are all too common.

What’s driving high turnover rates?

Currently, the US has the highest number of people age 65. Projections show that the baby boomer population will increase from 49 to 95 million between 2016 and 2050. During the same time, the labor force will only increase by 14%. According to PHI, labor-intensive work, few growth opportunities and irregular hours are some of the reasons senior care facilities continue to experience huge turnover rates.

How to hire for assisted living facilities

That said, the goal is not to onboard caregivers for your senior care services but to find those who can stay with you for a long time. This article will break down the hiring process to help you make the most out of it.

Determine the task at hand to pick the right caregiver

So, are you looking for a nurse to help residents take their medicines on time, or a physical therapist to keep the seniors in good physical shape? Your needs will influence the type of professional you’re looking for, as well as the approach you take. Here are some health care professionals for senior homes:

Physical therapists: Physical therapists help residents maintain their physical function and reduce the risk of falling. They take care of strength training, pain management, and fall prevention.

Registered nurses: Registered Nurses initiate treatment plans and administer medicine. They prepare IVs, give injections, draw blood and take vital signs. These nurse practitioners monitor patient health and ensure they’re getting proper care. They also report any changes in the residents’ health or living situation.

Licensed Nursing Assistances: LNAs work under the supervision of RN. They take vital signs, give enemas, and may initiate medicine, apply dressing, bandages, insert catheters, and monitor IVs. They may also feed residents and note down any changes in their health.

Occupational therapists: Occupational therapists identify the causes of difficulties that limit participation in activities of daily living, leisure engagement, and educational and vocational pursuits.

Social workers: Social workers help seniors adjust to life in their new residence, advocate for their clients; needs and rights, provide supportive counseling and make a psychosocial assessment.

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Define the job before hiring

Perform a job analysis to gather information about necessary skills, responsibilities, duties, work environment, and outcomes for a given job. For example, an elder who needs help with light housekeeping or hygiene will have different needs than one with Alzheimer’s. A job analysis guides you in creating a job description for the new employee. It also helps you plan your recruiting strategy.

Here are some common items that you can include in your job description:

Know what to look for

In addition to certification, you want to find a caregiver who’ll treat the residents with care and respect. The caregiver should also have a good disposition, ability to deal with stress, non-argumentative temperament, and overall compassionate nature.

Personality: Find a caregiver with a good personality. Their qualifications alone won’t change their attitude. Avoid a caregiver who comes with a list of things they won’t do. Instead, work with one who’s open to most assignments.

Experience: Your ideal caregiver should have the necessary experience to handle senior-specific needs. For example, if the seniors have Alzheimer’s, the caregiver should have experience dealing with Alzheimer’s patients and so on.

Training: A good caregiver should have some form of training, whether formal or informal. But depending on the task at hand, the caregiver may need certification and licensing.

Honesty and reliability: Check references to ensure the caregiver passes the honesty and reliability test to ensure they won’t steal from the residents or fake the hours worked. Also, check to confirm that they always show up on time every time.

Accountability: Ask interview questions that help you gauge whether the applicant shifts blame or takes responsibility for their actions. Then use your best judgment to determine if they are a good fit.

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Find and interview a caregiver

There are many ways to find a potential caregiver. You can ask for referrals, advertise on job boards like Craigslist or place an ad in the classified section of your local newspaper.

If you have a website, you can publish the job posting on your site and share it on your company’s social media pages. You can even share them through Google or Bing Ads. The goal is to spread the word about the job opening, to get as many applicants as possible.

Once the applications start coming in, you can interview the prospects over the phone and narrow down your options before interviewing in person. Use your job description to screen applicants – but also take it a notch higher to find out about things like:

Perform a background check before you hire

Background checks help you identify the right applicant to care for the residents and minimize the risk of hiring a person convicted of elder abuse. Think of it as a way to protect your residents against theft and violence. Background checks are essential, seeing 1 in 6 people 60+ years experienced elder abuse in 2020. In addition to checking criminal records, a background check can:

Depending on your preference, you can run checks through a private investigator or law office.

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Work with an agency

If all these seem overwhelming, you can work closely with an agency to find the right caregivers. Senior home recruitment agencies work with both professionals who seek job opportunities and employers looking to hire employees. They remove the hard work from the process, taking care of identifying talent, advertising roles, negotiating pay, and interviewing candidates, so you don’t have to. The only downsides of working with an agency are you’ll pay more for a caregiver and that you’ll also have limited negotiation.

The Best Ways to Ensure Quality of Life to your Assisted Living Community

The benefits of assisted living services extend beyond activities of daily living. These homes open the world of opportunities and greater freedom for seniors. That’s why millions of families move their loved ones to these homes when home care is no longer a viable option.

As a service provider, you are always on the lookout for ways to enhance the level of care in the facility. This can pose a unique challenge because of varying needs of the elderly. But ensuring quality of life in your assisted living community doesn’t have to be complex. A few simple steps can help you deliver the best experiences to all the residents in your home.

The Best Ways to Improve Resident Care:

Address loneliness

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A study by the Brigham Young University found that loneliness can be as deadly as obesity or smoking. Senior isolation may encourage an unhealthy lifestyle, complicate the existing condition and affect cognition. It may also lead to higher cases of elder abuse as perpetrators take advantage of their isolation to scam, steal or injure them. Other studies show that Alzheimer’s almost doubles in lonely adults and that their mental decline was faster.

Going by these studies, addressing loneliness is one of the best things you can do in your senior living facility to ensure the quality of life. Great ways of preventing loneliness include:

·      Promoting social interaction

·      Encouraging a sense of purpose

·      Showing them that they are loved

·      Integrating physical activities like stair climbing, walking, and other age-appropriate workouts to keep the older adults in a solid mental, emotional and physical shape.

Hire enough staff

Staffing is one of the most tangible and crucial elements to ensure high-quality care. Everyone is happy when a facility has an adequate staff-to-resident ratio. But when the facility is understaffed, the team gets overwhelmed and becomes unwilling to offer assistance with activities of impaired adults. They may also become abusive out of their frustration. That’s why you need to hire adequate staff. But it's equally essential to onboard trained staff with a good grasp of residential care.

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Embrace new technology

Seniors may have shied away from technology in the past, but not anymore. The baby boomer generation is now widely adopting technology to keep in touch with their loved ones, manage their finances, alert caregivers in case of an accident, etc. They are using laptops, phones, and smartwatches for daily interactions and other activities. There are many other technologies that you can embrace to ensure your assisted living residents have a better quality of life, these include:

Personalize rooms

Personalization is critical, especially in memory care homes. It helps staff know the residents, their preferences, family, and special memories of travel and a well-lived life. It is also vital in the case of residents suffering from conditions like expressive aphasia and dementia. Usually, these people can’t tell their own life stories so their possessions that represent their activities, achievements, and memories can communicate about their past.

For this reason, it is a good idea to allow residents to bring some of their unique and favorite belongings and items with them as they move into the care facility. These possessions will not only aid with care but also help the residents feel at home. In addition to this, you may want to customize the rooms to fit the needs of the residents. Since no single resident has the same need as the other, it pays to understand the needs of each one of them and modify their spaces accordingly. And don’t forget the outdoors and common spaces too. A few things you can do in this regard include:

Provide lots of fun, social opportunities

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Spending time and maintaining relationships with others is essential to a senior’s mental and emotional well-being. It can prevent depression which is common with seniors. Studies by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 7 million adults in the US, 65 years and older suffer from depression each year. And while many aspects lead to depression, isolation and inactivity tend to be the biggest contributors.

Alzheimer’s Association recommends socialization to help seniors maintain brain activity. As such, providing lots of fun and social opportunities in your facility can be a great way to improve the level of care in your homes. Here are a few recommendations for social activities.

Make tidiness a priority

One of the main reasons seniors move from home care to assisted living is to get help with laundry and housekeeping. Providing stellar personal care services is essential, but ensuring that the rooms and surrounding area are in tip-top condition is also crucial. Assisted living homes always need to be clean to create a healthy environment for residents and caregivers. Hiring professional cleaning services can be a great way to ensure your facility stays clean. A clean facility offers plenty of benefits, including:

Emphasize providing quality meals and dining experience

Dining isn’t just an essential part of a senior’s social life in an assisted living community, it’s an important pleasure for them as well. Residents enjoy nice meals in a good dining setting. They also need well-balanced meals as part of their health care. When it comes to resident care, it is the simple things that matter, like eating what they want, when they want, and where they want.

While providing meals for the elderly, it’s vital to take note of their varying health needs. For instance, seniors with heart disease need to avoid processed meals and high-fat dairy products. Instead, they should eat high-quality proteins, healthy fats, colorful veggies and fruits, and low-fat dairy products. In addition to nutrition, you want to create an appealing dining atmosphere that makes residents eager and willing to enjoy their meals.

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What to Look for in a Top-Notch Senior Care Facility

The decision to put your loved one in an assisted living home is never an easy one. But unfortunately, sometimes it reaches a point where they can't stay at home due to serious health and safety concerns. In this case, placing them in a care facility can be a great way to improve their health and quality of life. A top-notch senior care facility will provide high-quality long-term care – allowing your loved one to interact with peers and live in a safe and secure place with help close at hand.

But you should know that assisted living facilities are not created equally. Some are better than others. So it's imperative to familiarize yourself with the qualities of a good senior living community. Knowing what to look for can help you make an informed decision. Here are some essential qualities to look out for in a top-notch senior care facility.

Sufficient staffing

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Nurses and other staff members in senior living communities play an integral role in ensuring your loved one's optima health and wellbeing. They will see to it that your loved one is as comfortable as they should be at all times. When a senior care facility is understaffed, nurses may cut corners to get the job done the best they can. Unfortunately, this might translate to neglect and abuse that may cause physical illness, mental health issues, and even death among residents.

Top-notch senior care facilities understand this fact too well. They know that sufficient staffing is key to improving patient care and nursing retention. So they always ensure that there's an adequate staff-to-resident ratio at all times.

Exercise and fitness

As your loved one grows older, it can become harder to maintain their physical fitness. But the very changes that make the physical workout more challenging also make it more vital. Top-notch senior living facilities provide a wide range of senior activities for their residents. Working out helps resolve common old-age issues. The benefits of physical activity for older adults are far-reaching, and include:

A good assisted living community maintains a schedule of senior activities for its residents. It considers their patient’s physical limitations as it motivates them to stay active with routine workouts.

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Interesting activities for residents

In addition to physical activities, a good assisted living facility will have a range of other exciting activities in daily living. It will provide different kinds of social, educative, and interactive activities. Skilled nursing facilities that offer various social activities are more likely to help senior residents overcome loneliness and feel like part of a group. These activities should accommodate the need of each individual – which can be diverse in this setting.

Comfortable and clean environment

You can tell a lot about a senior care home by just looking at its surroundings. But beyond that, there are a few critical details that you need to pay attention to. For starters, you want to check out their units and ensure that they are designed for long-term care. Then, you want to check the doorways and hallways to confirm adequate lighting and observe any obstacles or safety hazards that might exist. The spaces around the home should also be clean, tidy, and well maintained. There should be no semblance of odors like feces or urine. Most importantly, the residents should be well-groomed and their quarters should appear clean and tidy.

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The best-skilled nursing facilities invest a lot in keeping the facility as welcoming as possible. You'll see the manicured ground, safe walkways, shady and sunny areas, and outdoor seating. Their rooms are spacious and with plenty of natural light. They also have functional HVAC systems. In many cases, these facilities allow residents to bring their furnishings and family pictures to decorate their spaces. They also have common spaces where residents can interact with each other and their families too.

Safety and security

Safety and security are the most common concerns for friends and families who admit their senior loved ones into living facilities. With abuse and theft cases hitting the headlines every so often, it's essential to assess the security and safety measures that a facility has in place to protect their residents. Top-notch senior care facilities have a maximum staff-to-resident ratio to avoid overworking staff members. This reduces the neglect and abuse cases that arise due to nursing facility understaffing. It also ensures that residents don't wander or elope out of the facilities. Moreover, the best facilities also have surveillance systems to monitor all activities inside and around the premises.

Amenities

The best-assisted living communities have a wide variety of amenities to cater to their residents' vast needs. They will have a library, computer access, and a health and wellness center with personal trainers. Some even have barbershops and salons within the facility, making it easy for residents to groom their hair. Older adults also love it when they look good and can engage in activities that make them feel valued.

A strong sense of community

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You can gauge the quality of care in a home by looking at how the nurses and other staff members interact with residents. They call the residents by their name, treat them with respect and engage in conversations. The staff also encourages residents to socialize with others to enhance their quality of life. You can also rate nursing homes by looking at how welcoming it is to you and other family members. A facility where loved ones are welcome makes it easier for seniors to transition smoothly and feel comfortable in their new surroundings. Staff attention and minimum restrictions to make you feel part of the community can improve seniors' quality of life and make the home more welcoming.

Utilizes modern technology - software & wearables

A best-in-class assisted living community will often employ the latest in technology, like SeniorSense, so it can detect falls and moisture levels even as they happen. The innovative software can allow the community to see where staff is and track their progress as well as monitor conditions such as room and water temperature. It can even monitor battery life levels on wearables, smoke detectors and CO2 detectors.

 

Decision-making opportunities

Last, but not least, your loved one should have the freedom to air out their opinions regarding how they wish to sleep, dress, participate in activities and even receive care. Find out if they are allowed to socialize or dine together with other residents. Speaking about dining, top-notch senior care facilities serve visually appealing food. They also change the menu from time to time and consider the residents' health issues and their ethical and religious needs.

 

 

 

Top Concerns of People with Parents in Senior care Facilities

Home care services can be a great way to care for a senior adult. However, some situations force people to look into other care options. For instance, the senior loved one might have a severe mental illness or even dementia that would require skilled nursing supervision. It could also be that there's no one at home to render the best personal care. In such cases, it makes sense for the safety of your loved one to seek professional care. If you are considering placing one, or both of your parents in senior care facilities, you may want to know about these concerns.

Leaving a senior loved one in a care facility is not as easy as it sounds. Not when there are concerns about their wellbeing, care, safety, and security in these homes. Such concerns include:

Understaffing in long-term care homes

One of the top concerns that people with parents in senior care facilities have is the staffing issue. Many long-term care homes were short-staffed before the pandemic. And now, it's even more challenging to hire and maintain nurses that care for residents.

Families are worried that their loved ones won't get adequate care because these facilities are understaffed. That the few available staff strain and may end up cutting corners. And that they may fail to fulfill their duties as expected. Whether it’s to wash their hands often enough or respond to calls whenever the elderly needs help, and so on.

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With many senior care facilities being overstaffed, your loved one might not get the attention they need and deserve.

Security and safety concerns

There have been several reports of security breaches making headlines in the recent past. In 2018, for instance, a 94-year-old woman was sexually assaulted by an intruder while at a skilled nursing facility. Industry watchdogs and government agencies have raised the alarm about lax standards in assisted living facility that includes nursing and retirement homes.

Some common security and safety concerns that friends and families have include:

 

Resident violence or aggression

Some families place their loved ones into long-term care facilities because of their worsening condition or aggression. In most cases, the older adult cannot stay at home because the family caregivers don't know how to render care. But even with the shift, families still worry about how their aggressive loved one will fit into a home. That’s not the only point of concern for residents. Other residents’ families also worry about their loved ones being attacked by the aggressive resident.

2010 multivariate analyses by the National Library of Medicine found that 7.6% of 6,848 residents living in skilled nursing homes engaged in physical abuse or aggression toward other residents or staff members in the past month. 9.5% had shown verbal abuse or aggression, while 2% had engaged in sexual abuse or aggression toward staff or other residents. In all these cases, severe mental disease and dementia were significant risk factors.

Most skilled nursing facilities have processes in place to help contain such cases. These processes allow them to strike a balance caring for residents with behavioral problems while protecting other clients. In extreme cases, the resident may have to go to a state psychiatric hospital.

Theft from staff members or residents

Senior adults are more susceptible to financial abuse than the rest of the population. When people get older, they trust more often because they have to. They also have a harder time with memory. Sadly, some bad residents and staff members take advantage of this fact to steal from unsuspecting residents. Common types of financial abuse include credit card fraud, bank withdrawals, stealing cash, and access to debit cards. All these things are illegal and are punishable by law.

Elopement or wandering

According to a case report, about 31% of nursing homes and 25-70% of community residents wander at least once. Another study reported that 1 in 5 people with dementia wanders. Going by the numbers, it is clear why families worry about an elopement or wandering in long-term care facilities. Wandering is usually safe and healthy when it's within the facility. It is one of the common, daily activities in most senior living homes.

When residents wander or elope from the nursing home, it can be dangerous. Elopement happens when the resident makes their way out of the assisted living community undetected and goes into harm's way. In most cases, they elope because of:

 

Elopements are common during the first few weeks after a resident joins a community. Most of them do so because of the change in setting and desire to go back home. It is the responsibility of the nursing home to prevent this from happening.

 

Abuse from staff

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Sadly, elder abuse can take on many forms. Beyond physical abuse, elders can be verbally and mentally abused, as well.

According to WHO, 1 in 6 adults aged 60+ suffered one or more abuse types while in a community setting. WHO also adds that 2 in 3 nursing home staff members said they abused residents over the past year. Such glaring numbers make many family members worry about their loved ones' safety in these care homes. They are concerned that their loved ones may suffer at the hands of those supposed to care for them. Nursing home abuse includes:

 

 

Abuse can take many forms, while some is less obvious than others. Signs that a loved one is being abused in a nursing home can include:

 

But since these signs may vary, it's imperative to closely monitor your loved one. He or she may not speak about their abuse because of fear or simply being unable to communicate.

Concerns about their loved one falling or getting hurt

It is not uncommon for senior adults to slip and fall. In fact, each year, 3 million senior adults are treated in emergency departments for fall injuries. For this reason, many family members worry about their loved one falling.

This is considering that slip and fall accidents are one of the leading causes of disability and even death in the US. But the good news is that aging in place can be a great way to prevent falls. Most of these institutions have secured spaces that ensure adults are safe from falls and other hazards. They have handrails, grab bars, effective lighting, safe bathrooms, etc., to ensure the safety of their elderly residents.

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Falls can be devastating to seniors. Most senior care facilities are designed around their resident's safety, with adequate lighting, ramps and handrails to help minimize the likelihood of a fall.

 

Strangers caring for parents

Seniors, like everyone else, prefer to be around familiar faces like family or friends. They want their loved ones to prepare their meals, bathe them and even carry them around if needs be. But when home care services are not feasible due to a range of reasons, they'll have to get this care from someplace else – like in an assisted living community, or in the case of mental illness, a skilled nursing facility. However, the prospect of a stranger caring for a loved one is disturbing to seniors and their families alike. And it can get extremely uncomfortable, especially when it comes to personal needs.

WytCote understands these issues and in response created SeniorSense. SeniorSense provides resident care and monitoring as well as staff quality control in a simple, secure and easy-to-use platform. Ask your community if they have SeniorSense.

 

Can You Tell When a Senior Care Facility is Understaffed?

When you have a loved one who is elderly, you want to do everything to ensure they are cared for and comfortable. But since senior care is often long-term, you may not be able to be there at all times. Luckily, there are ways to still care for your loved one, even when you are not around. You can hire at-home care services or opt to enroll them in an assisted living or board home. But when a senior care facility is understaffed, there are many problems you should look out for.

If you go the senior living homes route, you should know that many facilities are not the same. They vary based on a range of aspects, including the type of foodservice, housing style, number of residents, extra amenities and cost. Licensed facilities offer the basics of all meals, laundry, housekeeping, recreational activities, transportation to appointments and errands, and wellness and exercise programs. They also provide daily living and medical help.

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By and large, senior living homes offer older adults the compassionate and accurate medical care they need. But still, these facilities are not created equally. Some provide better care than others. That’s why many people worry about the level of care their loved one will get while at a facility.

Some common concerns that many residents and their loved ones cite about their senior care facility include:

These issues arise due to many reasons. However, understaffing seems to be at the center of it all. Senior care services can only run efficiently if they have adequate staff for all duties. Again, staff can only offer the best standard of care if they are supported by others and are working as a team.

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Understaffed senior care facilities typically have fatigued, over-worked employees. This might lead to some very real safety concerns and problems with overall care for their residents.

The problems with a senior care facility being understaffed

When a facility faces staff shortage, responsibilities are dropped, certain duties are neglected and inevitably, the standards of care go down. This is because caregivers are forced to prioritize some residents’ needs over others. Over time, this neglect can result in long-term failure to offer basic needs.

When a senior living home is understaffed, it creates a hostile and stressful environment for both residents and the employees. The team may even become bitter and disgruntled. Members may feel ill-equipped and unsupported to do their job.

Experts believe that majority of bad outcomes arise from insufficient staffing. A low resident to staff ratio may translate to missing serious problems. It may also mean a staff member taking out their frustration on residents.

Abuse and neglect tend to worsen as the resident to staff ratio increases. The abuse and neglect by the caregiver can cause physical illnesses, psychological problems and even death among the residents.

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Abuse and neglect are very serious problems at an understaffed senior care facility.

Seniors are dependent upon the caregivers for their eating, bathing, and medications. But understaffing makes it hard for the caregivers to feed and give all residents medicines on a routine schedule. This can result in nutrition deficiencies, malnutrition, and other complications. Again, when the caregivers have less time to attend to each patient, they might become irritable and end up using unnecessary force when dealing with their residents.

How to tell when an assisted living home is understaffed

According to research, 95% of nursing facilities in America are understaffed. But it’s important to note that what constitutes adequate staffing levels for these homes differ from state to state. So you must watch closely and ensure that your loved one is safe and well-cared for in a home. With that in mind, here are some tell-tale signs that a senior living facility is understaffed.

Decreased employee productivity 

When a senior home is understaffed, you will most certainly see disgruntled and tired workers. Irrespective of how hard the team works, it is hard for a skeleton crew to function at the same efficiency level as a full team. Understaffed facilities lack the manpower to meet the needs of every resident. This raises the residents’ stress levels and causes dissatisfaction.

Lower employee morale

In addition to reduced productivity, you’ll also notice that the caregivers and staff have lower morale. When the team is unhappy, they find it hard to do their jobs correctly and deliver the performance expected in the role. For instance, an unhappy nurse may not issue medications or feed all residents as they are supposed to. He or she may also not reposition a resident after a reasonable amount of time. Unfortunately, this may cause bedsores and other health issues, especially among those restrained on bed or in wheelchairs.

Too many complaints

Even the best senior homes will still have complaints. However, when the senior care facility is understaffed, you may notice that the complaints are overwhelming. Since the staff has exceptionally high workloads, they may not be in a position to respond quickly to residents’ demands. So residents will always feel as though their needs aren’t met. You may also notice that your loved one tries to do things by themselves – like lifting equipment – because it’s somehow what they are used to doing in your absence.

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At an understaffed facility, many residents are on their own for even some basic needs.

Sudden weight loss

Your loved one might lose weight because of underlying health conditions. But negligence on the part of a tired, overworked caregiver can also cause the resident’s weight loss. If your elderly patient loses a considerable amount of weight within a short time, it could be that they aren’t receiving adequate care in their assisted living facility. It could be that they are not eating well, or they are missing medication and so on. They may also be emotionally drained from everything that’s happening around them.

Evident discontent with a staff member

Sometimes, you may notice that your loved one dislikes, or even rants about a staff member. In some cases, the discontent might be fuelled by the staff’s attitude or action towards them. Caregivers who have too much pressure from their work demands might neglect their duties or even abuse residents physically or psychologically.

Your loved one tells you

This is perhaps the easiest way to tell that a facility is understaffed. Your loved one stays in the facility and they have a good idea of what goes on when you are away. They may not tell you directly that the facility doesn’t have adequate staff, but you might hear them complain, or say things like “no one helps me do this,” or “medicine is always late,” and so on. You can also ask them if you suspect understaffing or related problems at the nursing home facility.