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“As a brand new Director of Care in a Long Term Care Home I really didn’t know what to expect from my role. One of the first things that landed on my desk was a call bell report.
As a clinician I LOVE DATA! So you can imagine how happy I was to see statistics. Unfortunately that happy bubble was burst once I started actually crunching the numbers. What I discovered was that I had a very significant problem. I took the detailed report that told me which rooms were ringing and the time of day, and I plotted each number on a graph. I was able to use this report to identify what part of my home, what time of day, and which residents were struggling to have their needs met in a timely fashion.
I was able to share my concerns with the staff in a meaningful discussion. We were able to identify specific areas of concern at specific times of day. We were able to identify residents whose needs required further evaluation. And we were able to come up with solutions that were specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely. It’s the MEASURABLE part that sometimes trips us up. But the call bell reports gave us an easy way to measure whether or not the changes we implemented were working.
I am so proud of my staff. The results have been outstanding. We have significantly improved response times for our residents, we have re-examined care plans and made meaningful changes for some residents who were ringing persistently, and we have redeployed personnel to respond to the staffing concerns. All of these positive changes came as a result of the report from KR Communications.”
Jackie Dales, RN, BScNShe/Her pronouns, Director of Care, Trent Valley Lodge