Challenges in Senior Care? Try the best solution: Training

It should come as no surprise to you that I passionately believe that better training is the answer to many of our senior care challenges.

Short on staff? Offer employer-paid training as a recruitment incentive.

Quality issues? Provide more consistent, quality oriented training to all staff.

Turnover breaking the budget? Offer genuine training opportunities to staff – this is one proven method to decrease staff turnover.

Need to distinguish your company from other care providers? Create your own in-house “University” and load it with required training content that will help your staff understand – and internalize – your company’s values and principles.

Let me take this one step farther: I passionately believe in online staff training. Not just because this happens to be my business, but also because I believe that it works.

Last week our RN course developer, a life-long educator, reviewed our most recent new course and said, “This course is better than a classroom course!”

This comment was a first for Judy. I think even she was surprised. Here’s why she said it:

• The content is written in an interesting, engaging way (not too many words; designed for a fast-food generation of learners);
• Images that illustrate the point and carry emotional weight are used throughout – more pictures than words, in most cases (we know today's learners are highly visual);
• Audio overlay allows the learner to hear as they read, making it not only more memorable but even a mini-ESL course for those who can understand English but not read it and vice versa (since many senior caregivers are not native English speakers);
• The course is interactive, requiring much more of the learner than just passive listening.
  

Judy went on to talk about her classroom experience, and her experience watching other inservice trainers and instructors.

“Even in the best of cases, much of the time you’re simply lecturing,” she said. “Giving the person the opportunity to interact with the content is simply more effective – and more fun!”

Thanks, Judy, for echoing my beliefs. Training does have incredible benefits, but training MUST be an active event, not passive video viewing or lecture snoozing.