What is an Agency? Agencies work for many different positions, the main one being a resource for temporary staff. Every year our demand for healthcare workers as a country increases as the average population age also increases. As one may guess, this can arise many issues within the healthcare system like understaffing and improper care. Agencies have a place in healthcare and are essential to filling positions with proper qualifications when needed, but it does have it’s drawbacks
Drawbacks – With agency staffing constantly traveling around to different locations to fill in spots, the ability to personalize with other staff, residents and families is limited. Miscommunication among staff and building specific procedures might be missed when always on the move. Doctors have been proven to gravitate towards familiar staff rather than new faces. Relationship building with residents becomes a secondary priority.
The Solution – Although it is not easy, the best solution is to fill staffing without agencies. The ability to know your residents and staff allows you to provide a customized care that cannot be bought. Many residents in nursing homes trust and enjoy the caretakers that they see everyday. Forming this relationship benefits both parties as the residents receive the best quality care, and the caretaker is able to perform their job easier and efficiently because of the established known routine. With Generations at Regency being CNA Agency free, all of our caretakers know our building inside and out. Many of our staff have been with our residents from start to finish. Seeing our residents come into our doors in severe medical need, to then seeing them walk out of the building healthy, is a feeling that cannot be described, and surely cannot happen with temporary staffing. Our building becomes more than just a rehabilitation and skilled nursing facility, it becomes a community.
