COVID-19 put homecare agencies to the test. Flexibility, creativity, and resilience were required to stay afloat and continue providing quality care. Use these tools to keep your homecare agency ahead of the curve now and after the pandemic.
Finding a caregiver that fits with your agency’s culture is crucial. When it comes to your mission, vision, values, and growth, you need a team that is prepared to take this journey with you. When you focus on recruiting, look for caregivers that stand out from the crowd and will stand beside you.
Motivate your staff to be as excited as you are about your agency’s progress by asking yourself:
These are all important things to keep in mind when evaluating your caregiver recruitment experience.
With the new Omicron variant of COVID-19, your ability to communicate, support, equip, and train caregivers about critical changes to the healthcare landscape will be put to the test.
The last two years have taught homecare agencies like yours a lot. Continue to utilize channels and resources that work best and try to optimize those that may have fallen flat. Do what you can to boost your team’s confidence and trust that you have their best interests in mind.
How can you make your training stand out?
The pandemic exacerbated existing scheduling difficulties, which were already strained with recruitment problems, client and caregiver compatibility, and the industry’s ever-changing regulations. With automated patient-caregiver matching technology and easy-to-update task dashboards, we’ve made it as simple as it can be.
Take some time back in your day to develop relationships with caregivers, understand their needs better, and return to their scheduling dashboard with a renewed mindset.
What do we mean by this? Pay extra attention to the news, the weather, your patients’ needs, and your caregivers’ needs.
Anticipate what your clients and caregivers need most:
With your referral sources, you can forecast their needs, too. As you visit with their nurses and discharge planners, learn what their most common discharge days are, and what diagnoses are most common.
Be there a day or two before normal discharge dates to stay top of mind. Keep their patients’ needs in mind when talking to your caregivers, schedulers, and trainers.
When you truly care about your employees, your retention rates will reflect those efforts. A recent survey from Care Academy showed that caregivers want an employer that will support them. 94% of caregivers consider this as a factor when evaluating a job offer.
Your support can take a variety of forms:
Technology moves quickly these days. To make the switch or use other technology platforms, make sure that you’re able to adapt to each caregiver‘s way of learning. Different caregivers have different ways of learning, including:
With HHAeXchange, your team can get access to a caregiver-friendly mobile app that will empower them and make their work easier. Our eLearning solutions are integrated within the app, so caregivers can complete them at their convenience.
Operations and schedules may not always run as smoothly as you would like them to, but by planning ahead, you can stay ahead.
Once you’ve mapped out your plans, be sure to leave wiggle room for potential changes.
By anticipating the unexpected, you can be one step ahead of the crowd.
You can’t plan for a pandemic, but you can stay ahead of the trends by catching them at their first breath. Stay ahead of your competitors by consistently doing what you do best, making a conscious effort to improve where you fall short, and recognizing the gaps in the care that’s offered in your community.
By listening to your caregivers, clients, and referral sources, you can prepare for events within and outside of your control.
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