Providing the proper care for all our residents is the most important piece of our philosophy at the Homeplace of Henderson. It’s a goal we emphasize each day. To make sure this happens, we need to have highly-skilled and compassionate professionals working as caregivers. But that’s not enough. Because we want to do better than any of our competitors, we believe that each of our employees must be cross-trained so that they are prepared to work with any of our residents.
Caregivers who work in the assisted living pods must know how to care for residents in the memory care units, and vice-versa. We know that life happens, and an emergency might arise for an employee, causing him or her to call in or arrive late to work. This could cause us to be short-staffed for a bit, and a caregiver who normally works in the assisted living unit could be asked to go help in memory care. And this could occur the other way around, too—a memory care employee is asked to help in assisted living. We want you to know that, whatever the scenario, our employees will not miss a beat.
No matter the employees’ unit, he or she will be trained to highest standards for whatever is encountered. Employees know being patient and being compassionate is important in any role at Homeplace. With dementia training, they know how to help our memory care residents with daily living. They give baths properly, transfer them from baths and from bed, know correct grooming and toileting. It’s this type of training that allows us to give proper care twenty-four hours each day.
Cross-training is not only given to our caregivers who deal most directly with residents, though. It is also provided to administration, dietary consultants, and maintenance employees.
This added dimension allows us to fully complete our mission. For example, if a maintenance employee is working in a resident’s room, he or she will be able to notice something that might be off with a resident. The employee can then step in and provide the immediate care and compassion a resident could need in that moment. Without this cross-training, the employee probably wouldn’t know how to react.
The training comes from a variety of sources. Some is provided from the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners, while other trainings will be given by the American Heart Association, local registered nurses, therapy teams, and clergy, who will help our employees better deal with loss.
There are two common quotes heard at many other companies: “That’s not my job” and “I didn’t know that.” We don’t want to hear that at Homeplace, and we believe our cross-training initiative helps us to achieve that. We know all our team needs to be able to work with any of our residents at any time.
To contact the Homeplace of Henderson, email Jessica Beaven at jessica.beaven@homeplaceofhenderson.com, call at (270) 577-0534, or write to 1 Homeplace Boulevard, Henderson, KY 42420