Cady Memorial Home
Cady Memorial Home operates 5 CBRFs in Marathon, Langlade,
and Shawano Counties. Cady Home provides care for
45 clients, including aging adults and individuals
with developmental disabilities and employees 35 direct
care workers.
Tracy Anderson, Director of Operations, is delighted
to report that Cady has seen a reduction in staff
turnover in 2005. Ms. Anderson believes it is in part
due to a new mentor program Cady Home implemented
in January 2005.
The Marathon County Long Term Care Workforce Alliance
provided a mentor program training in December or
2004 to four of its members, one of which was Cady
Home. The multi-day training included information
on: what makes a mentor and the responsibilities associated
with it, how adults learn differently, leadership
styles and the best way to get things done in different
situations, how to listen and give feedback, and stress
management.
Cady Home sent 8 staff to the mentor program training.
All had to have been employed for at least 6 months,
but most had worked for the agency for a year and
one staff was employed for over 10 years.
When new worker are hired, employees receive basic
training on medication, first aide, OSHA, and fire
safety within the first two days. Employees are then
assigned a shift and a mentor, who works with them
intensively for their first 40 hours with residents.
Mentors supervise new-hires with passing medication,
wearing gloves, and how to do procedures that are
new to them such as give a shower, change someone,
catheter care, and take blood pressure.
Mentors at Cady Home commit to working the new employees
shift for those initial 40 hours. After a week both
the mentor and new-hire fill out an evaluation of
one another and revisit the evaluation after 90 days.
The purpose of the evaluation is to ensure that the
mentors are the right fit for the staff, the mentors
are doing a good job, and to ensure that new-hires
are appropriately trained and performing their job
well.
The evaluation that new-hires fill out asks if the
mentor: made the new-hire feel welcome and introduced
them to new staff, encouraged them to ask question,
explained new procedures, gave them praise for what
they did correctly, and encouraged them for learning
their new role.
The evaluation mentors fill out rates caregiver on:
quality of work, timely assignment completion, quality
care, assistance with other staff, works safely at
all times, follow infection control procedure, communication
with residents, staff, and family, respects residents
rights, jobs proficiency, understanding of duties
and responsibilities, organization and planning, skill
performance, and knowledge of care plan.
Ms. Anderson reports that not only has turnover decreased,
but communication has improved between staff. New
staff also feel more confident in their jobs.
When mentors at Cady Home completed the program training
they received a raise. Additionally, managers take
mentors out to eat and provides bonuses to reward
mentors. Mentors also appreciate having more leadership
and responsibility. Ms. Anderson adds, “Their
input is really important. If it wasn’t for
them, we wouldn’t have what we have.”
To learn more about implementing a mentor program
in your agency, call Darcy Dickman with the Marathon
County Long Term Care Workforce Alliance at (715)
847-2600, ext. 52401.
If you are or you know of an agency working
on an interesting workforce issue, please email the
agency name, contact name and phone, and 1-2 sentence
description of the project to: agency@wiworkforcealliance.com
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