Enhancing Staff Retention in Person-Centered Care Environments for Older Adults

"Janine Lange deftly describes an invaluable process that can contribute greatly to building and sustaining a culture of care." —Stephen Long, Ph.D., author of Caring for People with Challenging Behaviors, Second Edition

"This book is greatly needed. Lange provides practical information that can be easily implemented with any facility." —Gayle Doll, Director, Center on Aging, Kansas State University


High employee turnover is one of the greatest challenges facing long-term care communities today. Without consistent staffing, care communities and their residents suffer the consequences of inadequate care, unnecessary expenses, and inefficient operations. Enhancing Staff Retention in Person-Centered Care Environment for Older Adults outlines how long-term care administrators can reverse this pattern of damaging outcomes by developing, implementing, and maintaining an effective orientation program for all levels of staff.


Author Janine Lange, a clinical nurse educator, has standardized new employee orientation programs in many long-term care communities, and she brings her experience and knowledge to this guide. Simplifying the otherwise daunting task of creating and implementing an orientation program, this step-by-step resource walks readers through the entire process, from defining the culture of a community to establishing an organization's needs to skills testing and the evaluation process, and more.


Many helpful tools accompany this text, including:


• Conversation starters and other communication techniques to enhance staff and resident interactions • Summary lists of key points for each step of the orientation process • 18 sample agendas, forms, and checklists, both in the book and available for download as PDFs


This critical resource for long-term care administrators and all staff involved with training will assist organizations in fostering a competent and well-trained team of caregivers who demonstrate a lasting dedication to the well-being of older adults.