High Turnover in Nurse Aids Working with Seniors

by Alex A. Kecskes

The U.S. population is aging. And more baby boomers are filling senior care centers and long term care facilities than ever before. As a result, today's Nurse Aides face increased challenges in caring for the seniors, especially seniors with decreased mental capacity.

Nursing managers must make sure that Nurse Aides are not overwhelmed by the tasks they are asked to perform. Failing to do so will result in job dissatisfaction and high turnover. And high turnover means constant training of new aides, which ultimately adds to costs and a drop in the quality of patient care.

High Nurse Aide turnover has been a major problem for many managers of long-tem care facilities. Most studies on turnover focus on why Nurse Aides left. But why do others stay? What are the motivating factors that keep a Nurse Aide content and productive? Recent studies revealed a number of factors. But in essence, they boiled down to five reasons why Nurse Aides remained on the job. These included pay, relationships with the residents of the facility, pleasant working environment, training opportunities to improve the chances for advancement, and job satisfaction.

As a supervisor or manager of a healthcare facility for seniors, you need to be ever vigilant about the morale of your Nurse Aides. Frequent meetings and training programs designed to improve dementia care can be critically important in retaining employees. Look too, at adequate staffing and equipment, performance-based pay rises, and paid training to keep nurse aides on board and happy.

For an added perspective, check out the video Goodwill's Certified Nurse Aide Training

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