As the senior living and care industry struggles to achieve a self-imposed COVID-19 vaccination rate of 75% for staff members, one association maintains that now is the time to “push hard” against vaccine hesitancy as data show the positive effects of the vaccines.
Lori Porter, CEO of the National Association of Health Care Assistants, addressed recruitment challenges and best practices for certified nurse assistants during a LeadingAge membership call on Monday. NAHCA represents CNAs in assisted living, nursing homes, home care and hospice settings, and hospitals.
Porter said that, when it comes to the coronavirus, her concern remains vaccine hesitancy among frontline staff. Arguments against the vaccines are becoming weaker the longer they exist and the more people who are vaccinated.
“We haven’t seen anyone grow a third arm yet,” Porter said. “That was some of their initial fears, and that has not materialized. It is getting harder and harder for them to decline for those reasons.
“Now’s the time to push harder than ever, because we do have data of how the vaccine has improved our lives overall and got us to the place we are now.”
The long-term care industry has dedicated much of the past six months — and likely will spend much of the next three years — to improving confidence in the COVID vaccine. But Porter said that senior living and care communities will remain vulnerable if the industry does not reach the 75% vaccination rate for staff members.
“With variants, staff will have to protect themselves for us to protect our residents and patients out there,” Porter said. “We’ve started putting out very direct messages on responsibility to residents, and part of being a CNA is doing no harm. We’re taking a much stronger voice, in terms of vaccine confidence, and this-can’t-continue-to-go-on type of messaging.”
Best practices for recruiting, retention
Switching gears to staff recruitment and retention, Porter said it is important to give CNAs a voice and leadership roles.
NAHCA created a leadership development program in 2019 to do this and to celebrate CNA successes. The Enclave Principle creates a CNA department within an organization or community that focuses on performance and quality improvement in direct patient care. NAHCA rolled out Enclave Principle demonstration projects in skilled nursing facilities in Michigan, Arizona and Missouri, establishing a director of nursing assistants role to coordinate on-site programs.
The pandemic throttled expansion of the program, so NAHCA is focusing on turning it into a CNA best practice to help organizations and facilities implement programs within their own operations. Porter said the general principles, training and education models are applicable to almost any setting, including assisted living.
It also is important to provide the potential workforce with a call to action, she said. Although pay and benefits are important, Porter added, today’s workforce members are more inclined to go where they can make a difference.
“People want to be part of a team. They want to be part of a solution,” she said. “This industry is very high on emotional benefits, and if care centers and employers learn how to articulate that in a way that resonates with ‘I want to be part of something,’ that makes a difference.”
