Do you want to know how to increase your employee’s morale? Do you want to know how to spot the troublemakers in your staff? Would you like to know the one person who is destroying your team? Well, that’s easy!  Just look for the person who is always the victim. You know who I’m talking about.  There’s one in every facility. They’re pretty easy to spot; they’re always the victim of some injustice and...

I was talking to my friend the other day about a work issue she had and she asked what I thought the next step should be.  I asked if she’d spoken with her boss to which she replied, “Which one?” “The one you actually answer directly to,” was my response.  This raises an interesting question: How Many Bosses Can You Really Have? I have seen many companies with chain-of-command issues.  Their structure made...

No matter how good of a job you do personally, you’re only as good as your worst empolyee.  So, if your CNA is in a hurry and doesn’t respond to a resident’s questions in a respectful manner, or if a call light stays on for 20 minutes and your charge nurse is at the nurses station while the CNAs are busy in other rooms, or even if a dietary staff member doesn’t take the time to see if they have some tomato soup for...

“That’s not my job.” or “That’s not my resident.” Sound familiar?  Sure it does.  I have heard these two phrases in just about every facility at one point or another.  I actually do not allow them to be used in any nursing home that I am managing.  Why?  Because it IS our job and they’re ALL our residents!  It’s about attitude.  If a staff member comes in and has the attitude that...

I have seen facilities with several different methods for handling employee Christmas gifts. *Some facilities bought their employees absolutely nothing. *Some facilities gave their employees t-shirts or jackets with the facility’s logo stitched on. *Some facilities bought their employees hams or turkeys.  (I actually liked this one). *Some facilities would have all the employees buy a gift and do a swap at the Christmas party. I...