CNAs and Care Planning

McKnights had an article on the need for recruitment and retention of certified nurse aides who provide 95% of the direct care but typically receive minimum wage and no benefits in difficult short-staffed environments. The article discusses how few nursing homes actually include Certified Nursing Assistants in the care planning process.

The need for CNAs to play a bigger role in nursing homes became so dire that federal regulators started requiring nursing homes to incorporate them more. However, as nursing homes look to cut costs and increase profit wherever possible, most continue to ignore these basic standards.

Research concludes that CNAs should be further included into facility work by changing the culture and training process to promote more CNA participation and improving overall communication and coordination. Moreover, the expansion of leadership engagement and career pathways, as well as the monitoring and consistent support of CNA work, are also agreed to be extremely beneficial.

Yet these are only a few repeating themes in the many ways that CNAs should be further included. More research suggests that professionals should be incorporated into the initial care planning process, as they offer “real-time observations” that are more personal and detained than what other staff members may offer. Overall, an increase in available CNAs would solve or improve a variety of common issues among nursing homes.

This is one example of the endless information that’s published to demonstrate to nursing home executives how to best run their facilities in the best interest of their residents’ health and wellbeing. When mistakes are made as a result of executive decision-making, such as a lack of professional staff, there is no legitimate place for directors may pass the buck other than themselves.