So in order to stem the tide of turnover, it is important to understand our workforce and characteristics associated with turnover of LTC workers. The study identified that the LTC workforce is comprised predominately of women, with minorities representing about 40 percent of the workforce. The researchers found that those who stayed in their positions tended to be married and have higher annual wages while those who left were younger, worked part time, were likely to have children under age 5 and be lower wage earners. Many of the leavers held unskilled positions, especially in hospitality and maintenance, and the rate of poverty was relatively high among entrants and leavers across all of LTC. The researchers recommend investment in training and education to increase recruitment and retention of these low income, unskilled workers.
While I think training and education is important, I’m not convinced that it, alone, will change the turnover issues in LTC. As we all know, there is no one size fits all answer. Each organization and its workforce are different. The most important factor is to gain a clear understanding of your own workforce and the issues that are important to them. Consider taking a quality improvement approach. Collect and analyze your data so you can identify the root cause of your turnover challenges. Once you understand your workforce and what’s important to them you can develop targeted recruitment and retention strategies.
The key to achieving quality care and patient and resident satisfaction is through a stable, committed quality workforce. With the median turnover in skilled nursing facilities at 44% in 2012 and the rapid job growth that is projected to occur, we will all need to have a renewed focus on strategies to recruit and retain employees.