Empowered Work Teams in Long-Term Care

Strategies for Improving Outcomes for Residents and Staff

ISBN 978-1-932529-41-8
224 pages
7 x 10 papercover
© 2008

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Product Description

Creating empowered work teams—a method of involving non-management employees in brainstorming, problem solving, and decision making within an organization—has proven successful in the manufacturing sector and is now being applied to the long-term care field. This practical guide illustrates the far-reaching benefits of empowered work teams in long-term care organizations and explains in everyday terms how to implement the concept.

Embracing the goals of the culture change movement, empowered work teams infuse direct care workers with a sense of efficacy and accountability. These self-directed teams offer input into care practices, facility procedures, and scheduling in ways that improve outcomes for both staff and older adults. This effective management concept can be applied in all long-term care settings, including assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and home health care programs. Staff empowerment offers long-term care administrators multiple advantages, including

  • improved quality of care
  • increased staff morale
  • higher staff retention
  • enhanced communication

Based on years of research, Empowered Work Teams in Long-Term Care thoroughly describes the rationale behind empowered work teams and the proven positive effects on staff, management, and older adults. The authors present a fully-validated model for introducing the empowered work team concept to direct care staff, gaining support from the administration, and supervising the teamwork process over time. Hands-on tools include assessment forms, staff training materials, and step-by-step implementation guidelines. Guidance and troubleshooting tips are provided in the resources’s final chapter.

Facility and program administrators, directors of nursing, staff supervisors, and team leaders will find this guidebook an invaluable tool for nurturing a more effective and motivated staff and, as a result, an improved care environment.

About the Authors
Contributors
Acknowledgments

Foreword, by Mary Jane Koren
Preface

Part I. Why Create Empowered Work Teams in Long-Term Care?

Chapter 1
What We Know About Empowered Work Teams in Non-Long-Term Care Settings: Lessons Learned

Chapter 2
The Role of Empowered Work Teams in Nursing Homes

Chapter 3
The Potential for Empowered Work Teams in Assisted Living Communities
Mauro Hernandez

Chapter 4
The Potential for Empowered Work Teams in Home Care Settings
Katherina A. Nikzad, Keith A. Anderson, and Joseph E. Gaugler

Part II. Research Findings on the Effects of Empowered Work Teams and Empowerment in Long-Term Care

Chapter 5
The Effects of Empowered Work Teams in the Green House Project
Jude Rabig

Chapter 6
Effects of Empowered Work Teams in Nursing Homes

Chapter 7
Effects of Empowerment on Direct Care Worker Performance, Attitudes, and Turnover

Chapter 8
Knowledge as Empowerment: Improving Direct Care Workers’ Education and Training
Linda S. Noelker, Farida K. Ejaz, and Heather L. Menne

Part III. Implementing Empowered Work Teams in Long-Term Care

Chapter 9
Initial Orientation for Empowered Work Teams

Chapter 10
Training Managers and Nurses for Empowered Work Teams in Long-Term Care

Chapter 11
Training Direct Care Workers for Empowered Work Teams in Long-Term Care

Chapter 12
Maintaining Effective Teams in LTC: What Must Go Right and What Can Go Wrong

Summary and Conclusions

Appendix: Steps for Implementing Empowered Work Teams in Long-Term Care

References and Suggested Readings

Index

Empowered Work Teams in Long-Term Care: Strategies for Improving Outcomes for Residents and Staff (Yeatts E… by HealthProPress

3 reviews for Empowered Work Teams in Long-Term Care

  1. admin

    “Yeatts, Cready, and Noelker provide an excellent new tool for health care leaders as we seek to improve care and services in a challenging and changing environment. Successful organizations can utilize empowered work teams to enhance communication and ultimately impact care delivery.”
    –Lisa Melby, LNFA, M.A., Administrator, Good Samaritan Society-Denton Village

  2. admin

    I strongly encourage all long-term care providers to consider implementing empowered work teams in their facilities. Our facility’s certified nursing assistants learned so much and felt so appreciated that their knowledge of the residents’ direct care needs were, indeed, important in the decision-making process. The licensed and management staff also benefited from the empowerment program as it has resulted in a stronger team unity and a sense of accomplishment of each team. …[The authors] have done an outstanding job of documenting and presenting their research and the results of their work.”
    –Joan Bellah, Licensed Nursing Facility Administrator, Trinity Terrace CCRC, Fort Worth, Texas

  3. admin

    “Yeatts, Cready, and Noelker provide a very comprehensive review of the theory and research about empowerment within organizations.… Managers or administrators of long-term care facilities will find this volume most relevant to their daily challenges.”
    –Stanley R. Ingman, Ph.D., Professor of Applied Gerontology and Director, Applied Gerontology Gerontology Program, University of North Texas

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