Page 18 - Mid Valley Times 3-3-22 E-Edition

Thursday, March 3, 2022 | A18 | Mid Valley TiMes
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The 2021-2022 Employee Revolution is Retirement Community Opportunity
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By Ro Linscheid
e job market, in gen- eral, has never seen a transition time as all in- dustries are experienc- ing today. ere are more people making switches, getting in and out of the job market and retiring early. Some job seekers have looked at retirement communities.
e Retirement Com- munities of Reedley all have job opportunities. Some jobs need speci c skills, licenses, certi ca- tions and education and some do not. Opportunity to serve and care for people who have lived well and long is a privilege and can be very rewarding. Our motto here at Sierra View Home Retirement Com- munity is “In the Compa- ny of Friends.” is motto is what we look for to hire the right person with the right skills and personal- ity. We can teach the skills with the right attitudes. is is a bird’s eye view of the jobs of a Retirement Community.
First, the retirement
community needs an Ex- ecutive Director. is per- son oversees the entire work force and manages the retirement commu- nity. He or she must have a college degree and be a licensed Nursing Home Administrator as well as a licensed Assisted Living Administrator. e Exec- utive Director deals with budgeting, licensure, and Federal, State and City code compliance and is the arbitrator for di cult issues. e Executive Di- rector leads the Depart- ment Managers in proto- col and regulations.
e Human Resources department keeps up with the labor laws, processes payroll and helps the sta understand the personnel policies and procedures in a Retirement Community setting.
e business o ce deals with the various insuranc- es, sends out statements and prepares reports for the board to track the in- come and spending.
e Admissions Coor- dinator works to bring in residents at all levels of care. is person ensures that the resident is ad- mitted to the appropri- ate level of care and that there are the needed funds available for care.
e Marketing Coor- dinator gets the word out about the retirement com- munity. Placing ads in various newspapers and magazines, even spots on
TV or radio are part of this job; the coordinator keeps web sites fresh and correct. ey are not hard to nd. I encourage ev- eryone to look up the web sites of the various com- munities in your area such as www.sierraview.org.
e Plant Operations department includes all aspects necessary to keep the facility running in- cluding maintenance, housekeeping and laun- dry. e maintenance sta xes what breaks down and takes care of the deep cleaning in the residen- tial and care centers. ey keep the apartments going by xing problems that come along. e duties of maintenance person- nel duties vary from day to day. ey never know what their day will be like when they arrive to start their shift. Housekeeping is an important part of the retirement community. Housekeepers routinely work in the Nursing Care Center and the Assisted Living. ey clean and sanitize all areas and keep the place looking and smelling clean. Although housekeeping services are typically not included in the rent or the apartment, apartment residents can hire housekeeping servic- es. Laundry services keep the industrial washers and dryers running many hours a day.
e kitchen sta pre- pares three meals a day. In addition, they make
food for special events, daily snacks and special- ized diets for the resi- dents. e Director of Dietary Services prepares menus, makes sure we have the ingredients for the meals, schedules the sta and makes sure the kitchen is clean. Cooks, prep cooks, and dietary aides work varying shifts in the kitchen from 4:30 a.m. through 8:00 p.m.
e Nursing Care Cen- ter has the largest number of people working. e licensed Administrator keeps up with the regula- tions and helps sta un- derstand when and what the changes are. e Med- ical Records Technician keeps track of what goes into the resident’s chart and keeps the chart up- to-date. e nursing sta does the tender loving care that keeps our resi- dents content and feel- ing well cared for. In the Care Center, the certi ed nursing assistant (CNA) sta takes care of all the personal needs of each resident. ey make sure the resident is clean, well dressed, eats well, drinks uids, gets to activity functions, and is as con- tent as possible. Licensed Vocational Nurses or Reg- istered Nurses, also known as Charge Nurses, are re- quired at this level of care. ey provide the medicine the doctor has prescribed and assess ongoing health issues. Documentation on each resident is the charge
nurse’s responsibility. e Director of Nursing (DON) must be a Regis- tered Nurse. He/she has the responsibility to en- sure that each resident re- ceives the best care possi- ble. e DON makes sure there is adequate sta to work on all shifts, moni- tors the documentation on the residents, makes sure the sta has the needed equipment and supplies and much more. e DON works closely with each resident’s physician and the Medical Director, who is a liaison with the medical community.
ere is a teacher or Di- rector of Sta Develop- ment (DSD) in all nurs- ing homes. e DSD is responsible for teaching continuation education classes. Each CNA must have continuing education to maintain their certi ca- tion. e DSD provides this continuing education in the form of classes.
Perhaps in these trying times the Infection Con- trol Nurse has become the most well known em- ployee in the Health Care settings. Although it takes certi cation and special- ized training, the most important part is that he or she ensures every em- ployee is doing their part in keeping the residents free of infection.
e residents of the Nursing Care Center need to be stimulated physi- cally and mentally. is is where the Activity/So-
cial Services department gets involved. e Activ- ity Department assesses each resident and tries to nd ways to stimulate that resident to be more inter- active and involved. ere are entertainment pro- grams, participation pro- grams, one-on-one time, and outings to keep the resident’s mind as alert as possible. Social Services assists with psychosocial needs and vision, hearing and dental needs.
Assisted Living has jobs that include a Direc- tor, Personal Care Givers (PCG), Activities and a Medication Technicians. e licensed Assisted Liv- ing director has the job of overseeing the daily func- tion of the facility making sure rules and regulations are followed. e PCGs work with the residents to make sure everyone is dressed well and has done their personal hygiene. Residents are encouraged to participate in activities and to take their meals in the dining room. A medi- cation technician hands out medication, docu- ments that the medica- tion has been taken, and re-orders when the meds run out. ey document side e ects and get paper- work together when the resident goes for a doctor’s appointment.
I have only lightly touched on the jobs inside a retirement community. I recently asked sta at Si- erra View Homes to tell me some positive things about working in a retire- ment community. Some responses I got: “Work- ing with the people here is like a ministry. e reward comes in making a di er- ence in the life, the day, the moment of a resident.” “Words can not describe the warm feeling I get in my heart when I am do- ing something for another human being to enhance their quality of life.”“I like building long term rela- tionships with family and residents. It is satisfying to know that I play a part in making the resident more comfortable and feeling cared for.”
People serving people means things are not al- ways going to be perfect. However, when the sta cares about the resident and works toward under- standing the person, good things can happen on both sides. Living or working in a retirement commu- nity can be rewarding and fun. erefore, as this em- ployee revolution is hap- pening, retirement com- munity employees will be more resolved in caring and encouraging a good life on a retirement cam- pus.
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