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Teresian House

Organizational Systems Transformations

 

Organizational systems at Teresian House include the following transformations that provide a resident centered focus:

1) Creating an inclusive community for staff that is constantly communicating and reinforcing a resident centered focus through formal and informal educational opportunities and relationship building.  

2) Through a flat organizational structure, employees feel empowered to help control quality, waste, and problem-solve throughout the community.

3) Leveraging the value-added potential of inter-disciplinary, cross-trained teams throughout the organizational structure to take advantage of synergies in the organization.

4) Leadership actively pursues engagement and supportive strategies with staff.

5) Teresian House utilizes data, process-maps and problem-solving approaches to support staff and resident-focused transformation.

Below are examples of organizational systems at Teresian House that affect positive organizational and staffing outcomes. 

Staff Support

  • Staff are introduced to culture change during the interview process. Potential staff view the video "Teresian House - Staff Make the Difference" while completing the application (excerpt above). The video candidly describes Teresian House expectations including supporting culture change and performing global duties.

  • An Employee Emergency Assistance Loan Program is available for staff when financial emergencies arise. Loans are repaid, interest free, via biweekly deductions from payroll. "One employee blew the transmission in his car. Without the Loan Assistance Program, he would have lost transportation to work" - Teresian House staff member

  • The Employee Community Assistance Counseling program helps staff to access government programs such as WIC or HEAP. The program coordinator is available to identify eligibility and to assist staff in completing applications for aid.

  • The Employee Counseling Program provides a licensed therapist to meet with staff for counseling.

  • Staff milestones of 5+ years of service are recognized and celebrated at an annual dinner.

  • Tuition reimbursement and scholarships are available for staff to obtain additional degrees and/or certification.

  • Staff have medical insurance and paid time off for vacation.

  • Employees have the option to cash out personal leave before the Christmas Holiday. Staff can also donate this time to other employees unable to work due to sickness or family emergency.

  • Numerous other benefits are offered to Teresian House staff including a free turkey for every staff member on Thanksgiving. 

Resident Centered Living

  • Training is provided to assist staff in performing cross-trained duties such as dining assistance and dementia sensitivity. Sister Pauline uses role-reversal techniques to literally put aides in resident situations from being wheelchair bound to being bedridden or to needing assistance with meals or bathing.  During the case study, housekeeping staff were trained on assisting residents with dining. Staff began by walking into a dining room and identifying issues that might be distracting from the resident's perspective (e.g. lighting or loud music).  Next, each took on a resident's role to simulate the resident's dining experience. Tickets for each staff member explained the role including dietary preferences and any additional requirements (e.g. pureed food). Food was then served incorrectly (e.g. pureed when it shouldn't be, without condiments). Dietary staff played the role of poor servers talking on the phone, forgetting coffee, serving cold food and not offering a choice of beverages. In this training, the housekeeping staff was quite animate in their roles yelling, "Miss, Miss, this is the wrong food and it is cold!" After the exercise, Sister Pauline, other trainers and staff discuss the importance of the dining experience. One trained remarked, "All the things we've seen affect choice, appropriateness, quietness and everything that makes the resident's experience more enjoyable."  Staff were also coached on "slurrying" food such as donuts with liquid to soften food for residents with that dietary requirement while maintaining the appeal.

  • Staff are consistently assigned to residents and are part of a Resident Centered Care Team. The team is led by a Resident Care Coordinator (RCC) and includes medical and nursing personnel, geriatric technicians, social workers, housekeepers, dieticians, pastoral care, therapists, activities and volunteers. Members of the care team meet weekly to discuss the resident's preferences and progress.

  • Staff are cross-trained to perform many global duties including cooking, emptying the dishwasher or cleaning. All staff are expected to stop and check on residents if their call light is on.

  • Staff is trained to identify physical, psychological, and emotional conditions that require special attention. Medical care and therapy is one-on-one for the resident to ensure individualized treatments and results. Plans are underway to minimize the need for residents to travel to hospitals including dialysis treatments, digitized medical records and portable, interactive computer systems to transmit diagnostic data.

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