Staffing: How can we build, retain and develop a high-quality workforce with Care Technology Support?
What are the issues?
Recruit, train and retain
· Staff are leaving. Care workers have a hard job, and this can be draining.
· Training is incredibly important, but you can only train staff when you get them through the door. We need to get the right people through the door.
Leadership and morale
· Care workers feel management have no idea what’s happening at the ground level for care delivery.
Respect for the sector
· Care work is viewed as low skilled. This is not the case. You have always got to be
thinking, you have to administer medication and be able to emotionally read the client and their needs.
· People’s lives depend on quality social care, there really needs to be a higher level of respect for the job.
How can we solve these issues with Care Technology?
· Give new staff easy to use eMAR software – not only can they use this without formal training but they will feel supported and reassured.
· Management within social care could spend a mandatory day as a care worker, at least once a quarter. This would help them to understand the workload and other pressures on care workers and they will easily be able to fulfil the role with the
support of MED e-care’s eMAR and care plans. This would also reassure potential
staff and service users.
· We should change job titles from “Care Workers” to “Care Professionals” which is easily changed within MED e-care’s eMAR and Care Planning software.
· You can use MED e-care’s eMAR to review staff input and then provide recognition
through employee of the week schemes to help with retention of staff.
Have a look at our eMAR demo video.
