Susan Gilster and Associates

Dr. Gilster Receives the PIONEER AWARD

2010-06-02T13:29:00.000-07:00

Dr. Susan Gilster was the recipient of the 2010 Ohio Health Care Association’s Pioneer Award. The Pioneer Award honors individuals for their influence, progressive thinking and accomplishments, and for their ability to shape the profession both today and tomorrow. These pioneers are recognized as forward-thinking leaders in the development and advancement of long-term care in the state of Ohio. The award honors Dr. Gilster’s commitment to excellence in long-term care services.

Pioneer Award candidates are nominated by a select group of Ohio Health Care Association Past Presidents. Her selection as a winner of this most prestigious honor places Susan in an impressive position in Ohio’s long-term care history.

Dr. Gilster’s award was presented during the President’s Dinner during the Annual Convention in Columbus on May 5, 2010.

It’s Not Always About the Money: The True Costs of Administrator Turnover

2010-05-20T17:19:00.000-07:00

Kathleen Mears is a resident of a long-term care facility and hosts a regular blog for Long-Term Living. Ms. Mears wrote of the facility getting a new administrator, and offered her thoughts on the awkward but common pattern of revolving-door administrator turnover. Her thoughtful insights highlight the need to discuss not only administrator turnover and resulting financial costs, but perhaps the more important costs related to resident and staff care, morale and support. To read Ms. Mears’ blog, visit www.ltlmagazine.com.

We’ll address this topic in a upcoming Ask the Staffing Experts column on Long-Term Living soon.

To read previous columns of Ask the Staffing Experts, click on the image below.

Great News! Save Thousands on Staff Turnover

2010-05-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

We wanted to share some exciting new research on the benefits and enormous savings of one facility using the SERVICE model recently featured as the cover story in Long-Term Living Magazine. Click on the image below to see outcomes: turnover decreased by 50% in the first year, financial savings in excess of $500,000.00, and statistically significant improvement in staff satisfaction.

If you desire a change in your culture, want to stop staff turnover, and enhance satisfaction in residents, families and staff, contact Susan Gilster & Associates today at SusanG@careleadership.com or 513/673-1239.

Speaking at the Alzheimer's Disease International Meeting in Greece

2010-05-11T07:27:00.000-07:00

Susan Gilster and Jennifer Dalessandro presented three sessions at the 25th International Conference of Alzheimer Disease International, “Dementia Making a Difference,” in Thessaloniki Greece. The conference included approximately 1,000 individuals from around the world. Sessions included “Research Results of an Organizational Intervention on Staff Recruitment, Retention and Satisfaction in a Dedicated Alzheimer’s Facility,” and “Organizational Research Results in Improved Success in Alzheimer’s Programs and Long-Term Care.” The final presentation, “Preparing Future Health Care Professionals in a Specialized Alzheimer’s Facility” was particularly well-received, as Alzheimer’s disease is gaining international recognition as a major source of concern in the coming years in all countries around the world. Currently there are over 35 million people with dementia and that number is expected to grow to over 100 million in 2050. Groups from many countries are specifically interested in consulting with us and our 24 years of experience with developing and operating an Alzheimer’s and dementia facility. These include professionals from Singapore, Slovenia, Thailand and Australia, all of whom are planning similar projects in their own countries.

Susan Helps Prepare Future Health Care Professionals at AGHE

2010-04-27T13:59:00.000-07:00

Susan recently spoke to professors, university faculty and leaders at the AGHE Annual Meeting and Educational Leadership Conference in Reno. She shared a 23 year old education program in a session entitled, "Preparing Future Health Care Professionals in a Specialized Alzheimer's Facility." This meeting is the premier national forum for discussing ideas and issues in gerontological and geriatric education. Educators, clinicians, administrators, researchers, and students share their experiences, expertise, and innovations regarding teaching and learning about aging and older persons.

Susan Gilster presents at Harvard's Practice Fellowship Program

2010-04-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

For the second year Susan Gilster, along with Robert Schreiber of Harvard Medical School and Hebrew SeniorLife, co-chaired the Leadership Culture Change Workshop for the Practice Fellowship Program. The Practice Fellowship Program is a two year fellowship designed to build leadership capacity among nominated and selected high level physicians, nurses and social workers. Supported by the Atlantic Philanthropies and the John A Hartford Foundation, and under the direction of Executive Director Eric A Coleman, MD, the program develops national Leaders in Geriatric Care. The “Leadership and Culture Change Workshop” was well received with the majority of student evaluations indicating it was the “most inspiring and though provoking” of the sessions. Other comments included: “This was a wonderful integration of understanding cultural change and relating it to our individual projects and leadership development,” “Awesome,” and “Improved understanding of steps needed to create culture change.”

Assisted Living Consult

2009-06-24T13:44:00.000-07:00

“Leadership: Emerging from Chaos to Calm,” was an introductory article solicited by Assisted Living Consult, the first of a series of 8 articles from Dr. Susan Gilster and Jennifer Dalessandro. Each of the subsequent 7 articles will outline practical concepts and implementation strategies for leaders in assisted living. The goal of the series is to enable others in assisted living and long-term care to create caring, happy, fun and exemplary environments for the individuals who reside in assisted living and long-term care, as well as for those who work in these communities.

Reprinted with permission from www.MaybinHealthCommunications.com

Long-Term Living Magazine News

2009-06-24T13:40:00.000-07:00

Recognized as staffing experts with simple, common-sense solutions, Dr. Susan Gilster and Jennifer Dalessandro were asked to write a biweekly advice column for Long-Term Living Magazine by Editor Maureen Hrehocik. Susan and Jennifer have published extensively on the topic of staff recruitment and retention, and have presented nationally and internationally on mechanisms for recruiting, retaining, and enhancing staff satisfaction. See the latest published advice here or visit www.ltlmagazine.com.

National Association of Long-Term Care Administrator Boards (NAB)

2009-06-24T13:00:00.000-07:00

Dr. Susan Gilster and Jennifer Dalessandro were asked to share their knowledge and expertise in leadership by writing a chapter in the new NAB Study Guide - How to Prepare for the Nursing Home Administrator's Examination Fifth Edition. The Chapter, Leadership and Management, includes new information on the importance of leadership in healthcare, as well as practical advice. All new candidates in the United States preparing for licensure as a nursing facility administrator will be introduced to the availability of this study guide as a means of preparing for licensure and their new role as an administrator.

Introducing 'Ask the Staffing Experts'

2009-06-02T08:21:00.000-07:00

Editor’s note: With staffing levels, training, and retention one of the greatest day-to-day challenges for long-term care providers, Long-Term Living magazine has enlisted the help of two experts in staffing, Susan D. Gilster, Ph.D., FACHCA, NHA, Fellow and Jennifer L. Dalessandro, BS, NHA.

Susan D. Gilster, Ph.D., FACHCA, NHA, Fellow

Dr. Gilster is a leader in innovative healthcare project development and has been involved in creating organizations in the United States and abroad. As an educator, researcher, practitioner, and consultant, Dr. Gilster has published and presented nationally and internationally focusing on leadership, organizational development, staff retention and Alzheimer’s disease and dementia care programs. Dr. Gilster developed the Alois Alzheimer Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, which opened in 1987 as the first free-standing dementia facility in the U.S. Guided by her service-driven philosophy, she developed successful, transformational models and systems for leadership and person-centered care for residents, families, and staff. Dr. Gilster has published her innovative models and systems in two books: “Changing Culture, Changing Care: SERVICE First,” and “A Way of Life: Developing an Exemplary Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Program.”

Jennifer L. Dalessandro, BS, NHA

As an educator, researcher, and writer, Jennifer Dalessandro has been an innovator in long-term care for more than 19 years. She serves as the assistant administrator and research coordinator of the Alois Alzheimer Center. Ms. Dalessandro has helped the Alois Center evolve into a person-centered facility that continues to be service-driven. With her guidance, the facility has earned numerous deficiency-free surveys and the ACHA/NCAL Steps I and II Quality Improvement Awards. In 2006, the facility was one of the top 25 in Ohio for family satisfaction. In addition, through many international and national presentations and publications, Ms. Dalessandro has shared her knowledge about leadership, staff satisfaction and retention, and continuum-based Alzheimer’s care in a thought-provoking manner.

Every week Dr. Gilster and Ms. Dalessandro will answer your staffing questions and provide advice on how to keep, strengthen, and build a quality workforce. Have a staffing question for our experts? Simply e-mail it to mhrehocik@vendomegrp.com. We hope to hear from you.

Life is a lesson learned each day, if we choose. And for those who continue to learn, the growth, development, and satisfaction in their work and life simply continues.

This column is designed to provide a forum for learning and exploring mechanisms for enhancing staff satisfaction and retention in assisted living and long-term care. Employees dedicated to serving older adults are vital to the success of a community. Research indicates that happy staff yield satisfied residents and families, which promotes facility success and profit.

Yet happy, supported, and nurtured staff is not what is encountered in many assisted living and long-term care facilities across the country. All too often the experience is a revolving door of staff, moving in and out of a facility and from one location to the next in an effort to find a workplace that is meaningful, respectful, fulfilling, and fun. With turnover rates of 40% to 100% per year, it is a very costly quality concern.

To impact this dilemma, we will offer, discuss, and share successful practices for recruitment, selection, orientation, and ongoing programs with the goal of retention, decreased turnover, and enhanced joy in the workplace. We’ll introduce the importance of organizational collaboration and a shared vision, among other important factors necessary to provide a stable, satisfied workforce.

First, it is important to acknowledge that creating a successful workforce and culture takes an organizational approach. All staff, all shifts, all departments are important in achieving an exemplary workplace. No one person, no single department can carry the weight of the entire facility and every individual person is important in achieving success.

Effective leadership is critical in the development of a global approach to the recruitment and retention of staff. Change starts with the desire of a leader to create a work culture that meets the needs and desires of all people that they serve—residents, families, and staff. Leadership has the power and authority to initiate programs as well as support others in their quest to create an exemplary workplace. It starts with a leader’s vision but must be shared and embraced by the entire employee base, all departments all shifts to become a reality.

However, this column is not simply just for leadership, but for any person within an assisted living or long-term care community who chooses to be a leader and wants a more conducive, collaborative, and fun work environment. Effective change can, and often does, begin with one voice…but success will only come when many voices are heard.

We’ll be looking forward to discussing important staff-related themes with you, and we look forward to receiving your questions and suggestions for future topics. Keep checking back as we share valuable information to help you transform your facility into a more successful, profitable, and fun environment in which to live and work. We hope you find this week’s questions valuable.

(Editor's note: The following teaser questions are meant to exemplify what types of queries Dr. Gilster and Ms. Dalessandro are prepared to advise on. Use them as inspiration.)

How can I prepare employees to succeed?
Employees do not come to a position in any facility fully prepared and capable of succeeding regardless of their years of experience. While they may have worked for decades in assisted living or long-term care, they have not worked in your facility. New employees do not know your residents or where the linen is kept. They are unfamiliar with your procedures, how you operate and most of all your expectations for their performance. If left to “figure it out” by themselves, they will most likely fail. And it is not their fault—it is yours.

New employees once carefully selected, need to be prepared and educated for their position, including organizational expectations for their performance. Facility and departmental orientation should be mandatory and ongoing education is essential.

Do you know all you will ever need to know?
Have you learned all that you will ever know? Why is it then that we think once a new employee has been through orientation (often too short and incomplete), that they no longer need to learn anything other than what is mandated by regulation. And even those often done in the fastest most efficient way are not real learning but a means of meeting a requirement.

In order for employees to be effective, grow, and remain interested in their jobs they need a routine, sustained system for enhancing knowledge and sharing valuable information with one another.

Are clinical ladders only for nursing?
Have you ever been in a facility with no dietary department or housekeeping? Have you visited a faculty with no one in maintenance or admissions? While the nursing department is essential in assisted living and long-term care, all departments are essential to community operations.

An organizational approach recognizes and values all employees in all departments and has a willingness to see every single employee grow, learn and achieve. It takes all staff, all departments, in all positions to work collectively and collaboratively to meet the needs of those we serve in assisted living and long-term care.

2008 Step II National Quality Award from the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living

2008-06-26T13:05:00.000-07:00

Under Susan’s direction, the Alois Alzheimer Center received the Step I National Quality Award in 2004, and the Step II National Quality Award from the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living in 2008. The Quality Award has been designed as a progressive three-step program to encourage continuous learning and development of integrated, quality systems to achieve performance excellence. Organizations are able to apply for recognition and awards at three levels, each of which requires a more detailed and comprehensive demonstration of quality integration and performance. The three award levels are based on criteria adopted from the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) Health Care Criteria for Performance Excellence.

ACHCA 2008 Assisted Living Administrator Recognition

2008-06-18T16:14:00.000-07:00

Susan Gilster was recently awarded the 2008 Assisted Living Administrator Recognition from the American College of Health Care Administrators.

She had previously been honored in 2007 with the Education Award for outstanding contribution to education in long-term care from the American College of Health Care Administrators.

Testing 1, 2, 3...

2008-02-11T14:47:00.000-08:00

Just a quick sample post to look over the general features of the New Susan Gilster and Associates Blog!