To top it off, breakout infections in recent months have resulted in staff outages, leaving the remainder of staff members short-handed, exhausted, and burnt out.
Thankfully, there are steps senior living operators can take to help ease staffing and recruitment struggles, including leveraging technology solutions. While the positive impacts of technology on senior living residents is now more widely known, less discussed is the impact it has on staff.
With small teams and high levels of stress, investing in technology can provide staff relief and help them do their jobs more efficiently and effectively.
Here are a few ways technology can help improve the work experience for staff:
More time for patient care.
For all staff, but younger generations especially, finding purpose in their work is a top priority. Freeing staff to focus on patient care allows them to build more genuine connections with residents. Advanced technology solutions, such as CarePoint Essential by Lifeline, offer streamlined workflows and remote monitoring that reduce the time spent on things like monitoring and bed checks.
Foresight into alerts.
When communities are understaffed, every extra minute spent responding to an alert can cause stress. Voice-enabled resident safety systems allow staff to know what a resident will need before even entering a room, allowing them to better prioritize tasks and come prepared to respond more effectively. Our recent eBook provides more insight into voice technology, plus other emerging technology trends.
Knowing where residents are.
With remote monitoring technology, staff no longer have to carry the burden of needing to be in multiple places at once. This reduces worry and prevents the need for micromanaging residents. With mobile alert pendants, such as Lifeline’s new CarePoint Go , staff can even be assured that residents will have 24/7 access to a dedicated responder when off community grounds.
Help encouraging movement and socialization.
Deconditioning has been yet another worry for staff since the pandemic, as movement and socialization became more difficult. While remote monitoring makes it easier for residents to spend time safely outdoors, simple solutions like pre-loaded exercise videos or music on tablets, can help encourage residents to move even when in their rooms.
Happier residents and families.
Hard days are made harder for staff when residents and families are unhappy. In addition to the daily benefits technology has on resident well-being, technology can also provide peace and ease-of-mind to families, as it gives them easier access to connect and communicate with their loved ones.
Staff Recruitment
For the younger workforce, technology is no longer a “nice-to-have,” it’s expected. In addition to the benefits to staff listed above, a community’s investment in technology can send positive signals to candidates during the recruitment stage, setting communities apart from competitors.
Investing in new, state-of-the-art technology shows your community is:
- Not stuck in their ways
- Willing to hear new ideas
- Invested in the future
- Committed to improvements
As candidates seek new positions, they want to choose companies they can grow with. Lack of technology investment can signal to candidates that your community is resistant to change and unwilling to hear new ideas, even when they benefit the community. Choosing to embrace technology, on the other hand, can signal that your community is forward-looking and invested in a brighter future.
While the old adage is true, “if it ain't broke, don’t fix it,” it’s important staff know they won’t need to continue to use old, legacy systems once they are no longer serving them. At Lifeline, we’re committed to continuous innovations, so our communities can expect updates and new features on a regular basis.
Happy Staff, Happy Residents, Happy Families
Recruitment and retention are all about considering what’s best for your staff. By continuously valuing and improving their experience, you enable them to perform at their best. Advanced resident safety technology provides universal impact, improving the lives of staff, residents, and families.
The State of Senior Living Technology 2022
Lifeline and Senior Housing News recently completed an industry survey on senior living technology. The results showed that as organizations recover from the pandemic, technology is fueling the transformation of senior living.
From telehealth and fall detection to staffing and remote monitoring, the senior living experience has inherently changed for all stakeholders in recent years, making technology challenges, investments and adaptations a focus for operators and staff in the years to come.
For more information on Lifeline Senior Living technology, please reach out to learn more.
