FALL IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER—it seems impossible! It feels like only yesterday that we first received notice of nursing facilities needing to shut their doors to visitors to keep long-term-care consumers safe from COVID-19. A lot has changed—and a lot has stayed the same.
There have been some obvious changes, including the way we are able to interact with our loved ones who reside in long-term-care facilities.
It is common for our office to hear people express frustration with outbreak testing at facilities, which puts visitation on hold, or with facilities that feel they need to schedule visits rather than let loved ones come and go as they please. We must remember that each little step is a step in the right direction.
Changes for the better also include the attention we are paying to the needs and experiences of those individuals residing in long-term care. Often, before the pandemic, it seemed as if many people overlooked the amazing gifts that our long-term-care residents have to offer. Now we see a renewed energy around trying to make the lives of our older and disabled loved ones as enriched as possible.
We also see positivity in the way we are perceiving the vital work done by our direct care workers—our dedicated nursing home staff members who are most closely responsible for the comfort and dignity of our loved ones. We have all come to realize how valuable a role our nurses and aides play in our loved one’s lives.
That being said, one thing that hasn’t changed—but continues to be a problem—is staffing. We have talked about it in prior articles, but the issues have been magnified during COVID-19. Despite the recognition of direct care workers as vital to the quality of care residents receive, we still see problems with staffing across nursing homes and home care that put our loved one’s care at risk. Elevating how we perceive our direct care staff is one step we can take to get to the bottom of this issue and move forward. If you see a staff member who is doing a great job, tell them! But we must do more to make sure that there are folks available to continue to meet our loved ones’ needs.
Our office is working with multiple community partners to try to find actionable solutions to staffing issues. If you have great ideas, comments, or experiences you would like to share in our effort to move the needle towards quality and quantity of staff for facilities and home care, we would love to hear from you. Additionally (as always), if you are experiencing difficulty with your or your loved one’s care in a facility or at home, please give us a call as well. We can be reached at 419-259-2891.
Megan Benner Senecal is a member of the Ombudsman Office.
While visits are better than they used to be (during the height of the pandemic), they are not without barriers and frustration.
