Perhaps one of the most common deficiencies seen during the survey of an Assisted Living Facility is the failure to train (or keep a record of training) employees along with properly documenting the paperwork required to be employed in the facility. Check out the regulation below, provided by Kentucky DAIL for how to ensure your employee training will satisfy the requirements of the state:
194A.719 In-service education for staff and management.
(1) Assisted-living community staff and management shall receive orientation education on the
following topics as applicable to the employee’s assigned duties:
(a) Client rights;
(b) Community policies;
(c) Adult first aid;
(d) Cardiopulmonary resuscitation unless the policies of the assisted-living community state that this procedure is not initiated by its staff, and those clients and prospective clients are informed of the policies;
(e) Adult abuse and neglect;
(f) Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia;
(g) Emergency procedures;
(h) Aging process;
(i) Assistance with activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living;
(j) Particular needs or conditions if the assisted-living community markets itself as providing
special programming, staffing, or training on behalf of clients with particular needs or conditions; and
(k) Assistance with self-administration of medication.
(2) Assisted-living community staff and management shall receive annual in-service education applicable to their assigned duties that address no fewer than four (4) of the topics listed in subsection (1) of this section.
Pro Tip:
Your orientation and training process CANNOT be an afterthought. Not just for the obvious regulatory purpose, but for the fact that providing staff with top-notch training has been proven to reduce your turnover rating, improve employee satisfaction and ultimately improve your resident care tenfold. As the administrator, you should take a huge role in the initial orientation process and set your new employees off on the right foot.