I recently read a post in the Long-Term Living blog, and it really got me thinking about the time nurses spend with residents and patients. Kathleen Mears, a nursing home resident, has witnessed nurses spending less and less time with residents and more time on administrative tasks and paperwork. While this documentation is important, building relationships with residents is essential to providing quality care.
Kathleen’s emotion is most evident in a recent encounter with a nurse who took the time to visit with a resident that needed some TLC. This stood out to Kathleen because it’s something that didn’t happen very often where she lived. In fact, Kathleen went on to say that the nurse worried she might get in trouble for taking this “extra time” with a resident. She needed to go and get her paperwork done instead ... that’s just plain hard to read.
Unfortunately, the nurse in Kathleen’s story and many other caregivers do not get to spend the needed one-on-one time with residents to make those personal connections because they are drowning in paperwork. By implementing technology and automating processes, providers can give back time to caregivers so they can to do what they do best – care for residents. With technology, senior care providers can increase efficiencies and improve care. Watch the video below to see how R&B Health Systems improved quality of care through proper staffing and the use of staff scheduling and labor management technology.