SAINT ELIZABETH HOME INSITITUTES CHANGES IN PATIENT CARE
Person-Centered Care to Provide Resident Empowerment
EAST GREENWICH, RHODE ISLAND, February 17, 2006:Saint Elizabeth Home has established a stellar reputation for providing compassionate care to its residents by employing committed caregivers and challenging them to find new and improved ways of enhancing residents’ quality of life.With 124 years of history, certain customs and care giving traditions have been adopted at Saint Elizabeth Home that have helped earn generations of families’ trust, however, the non-profit organization is now turning its back on a traditional standard of care by adopting a new person-centered approach that empowers even the most frail residents in their care.
L.E.A.P. (Learn, Empower, Achieve and Produce) training is now underway for all employees at Saint Elizabeth Community.Employees are being asked to set aside 18 hours for the initial instruction.Today all 44 graduates were lauded by a national advocate of culture change, Anna Ortigara, RN, MS, FAAN, vice president of the Campaign for Cultural Transformation from the Illinois-based Life Services Network, who attended their graduation.
“We (as caregivers) are in an amazing place right now,” said Ortigara.“We’re at a critical time because for the past 20 to 25 years, we’ve gotten better and better, especially in the area of quality of care.We’ve come such a long way and we’re now at a precipice.Quality of care is important but it’s more than that; it’s quality of life that’s important. Even if you’re 94, suffering from dementia and physically frail, you have a right to be the driver of your own life.You have the ability to make choices…what you want to eat and how you want to feel.”
“How do we sustain a culture where such a person can be a driver of her own life,” asked Ortigara?“At the end of the day, it’s the role of nurses in long-term care that make miracles.It’s about your commitment to the rest of the care team in this model.It’s about the CNAs, the housekeepers, dining services, social services and the rehab staff.As a nurse, we need to support the entire long-term care team.
“For LEAP to be successful we each need to be a role model.We need to celebrate the field of gerontology nursing.We have to be leaders.We have to be excellent communicators (which often means just listening). We have to be care-team builders and elevate our team.”
In total, 44 employees graduated from the first round of training.Although LEAP training was initially designed for nurses and certified nurse administrators, The Saint Elizabeth Community choose to introduce it to all employees because of the teamwork required to create true cultural change.Administrator Matthew Trimble anticipates that 100 percent of the workforce will cycle through the instruction by July 2006 and that changes to daily care will begin immediately.
Trimble expects the changes to be subtle, yet significant.“If someone moves here and is used to staying up late or getting an early morning cup of coffee, their routine shouldn’t change just because their residence has changed,” Trimble said.“It’s the little things that can make the biggest differences to people and we’re here to make that big difference in residents’ quality of life.”
At the conclusion of the graduation, Ortigara shared a favorite, anonymous quote with the graduates to inspire them: “To the world you may be just one person, but to one person, you may be the world.”
With L.E.A.P. training, The Saint Elizabeth Home is determined to demonstrate that care giving can be a dynamic, individualized process even in an organizational setting.
The Saint Elizabeth Community is a non-profit, non-sectarian charitable organization that has been providing quality care to the elderly and infirmed since its founding in 1882. A member of the CareLink network, The Saint Elizabeth Community offers four locations around Rhode Island that provide a full range of services – from independent apartments to skilled nursing care – and a staff who treats them with compassion and respect. Just like family.
