Last week, the results of a Penn State study on occupational injuries were revealed. It should come as no surprise that nursing assistants and home health aides were high on the “injured list”. However, the researchers found that on-the-job injuries caused a lot more than just a few aches and pains. They also led to increased CNA turnover and, potentially, a bad reputation in the community! Here’s what Deirdre McCaughey, assistant professor of health policy and administration had to say:
“In our research, we saw a cascading effect. Employees who had no training or did not believe their training prepared them well had more injuries. Those employees were also much less likely than non-injured employees to recommend their organization as a place at which to work or seek services.”
Here are some other findings of the study:
- Employees who felt ill-prepared were three times more likely to be injured than employees who were well-trained.
- Employees who felt poorly supervised were also more likely to be injured–not just once, but multiple times.
- Cutting back on training to shave the budget increased employees’ injury risk and turnover rates. In the long run, this boosted costs rather than saving money!
You’ve probably experienced it firsthand. When money gets tight, education is one of the first things to go…especially at the nursing assistant level. But are you really saving money? What are the injury and turnover rates at your workplace? If asked, do you think your CNAs would consider themselves both well-trained and well-supervised? Would they recommend your organization as a place to work or as a place to receive care?
At In the Know, we strive to provide quality CNA continuing education to meet every budget. If you’d like to discuss how you can maintain a top-notch team of (healthy) nursing assistants please give us a call at 877-809-5515. With more than 130 inservice topics, including modules on safe transfers, back care, the CNA/Nurse relationship and personal wellness, we can meet your CNAs’ learning needs.
Happy Teaching!
Linda
