I recently encountered an issue with the way employees are being paid in one facility.  It seems that at one point, the Nurse Administration team members other than the DON - ADON, RN supervisors, MDS, support staff, etc. were all paid hourly.  That’s fine.  They simply need to manage their hours to avoid unnecessary and unapproved overtime.  However, one of the Nurse Admin team members ended up having to work the floor in a...

It started snowing yesterday and didn’t stop.  It came quickly and was unexpected, but after 6 inches of snow on the ground, I knew we’d have problems.  As an administrator, it’s my job to ensure that I maintain adequate staffing levels round the clock for my nursing home.  The snow can cause many issues:  lost power, heat issues, call-ins, etc.  It can be pretty difficult to drive in especially in areas like this...

Oftentimes, when a facility has had survey issues or turnover in leadership, employee morale also suffers.  One nice little tool that can drastically improve morale in your facility is the Thank You note. You should attempt to create an atmosphere of not just catching people doing something but catching people doing something right.  There are several ways to do this.  Obviously, one is to make rounds and observe.  Secondly, you can...

I typically don’t hire individuals with special schedule needs.  It never fails that when a facility is desperate for CNAs, housekeepers, dietary staff members, etc., we see many employees hired that have only special times and days that they can work.  Typically, you hear something like: “Well, I have class on Tuesday nights, so I can’t work Tuesdays.  And, I can’t work weekends because I have no one to watch my...

Whenever someone used to ask me how I would describe my leadership style, I never had just one answer.  You see, it changes.  I am a leader for a large group of healthcare professionals.  I am also a coach for most of the time.  But I also am a mentor, a shoulder to cry on, even a drill sargent at times. I’m a peacemaker, a businessman, a dollars & cents watcher, and a check and balance for clinical outcomes.  I’m...

It never fails, someone needs to pick up their paycheck before the scheduled paycheck disbursement time.  We’ll say 2:oo pm on Friday.  You know that there is a reason you were told not to let the paychecks go early.  You know that if you let one employee do it, then every other employee will also have an emergency where they need to get theirs as well.  But this one employee is a really hard-worker.  And, she’s going out...