What can I do to find and retain quality nursing home staff?

The best chance a New York nursing home gets to defend against negligence claims and other legal allegations is before a lawsuit even gets filed.

Most nursing home abuse and neglect litigation boils down to one or more employees of the long-term care facility not performing their duties, miscommunicating or making careless mistakes.

By attracting and retaining the best employees possible, nursing homes and other facilities can cut down on the likelihood of an error that turns into a legal case against the home. Patients and families do not sue when quality employees provide quality care.

Attracting and retaining quality talent can be difficult. Here are some tips:

• Invest money in quality pay and benefits. While facilities do have to be mindful about costs, the market for healthcare professionals has steady demand. There will always be competition for the best talent.
• Make sure staff have reasonable, flexible schedules.
• Offer promotion opportunities to good employees.
• Take appropriate steps to control understaffing issues.
• With the caution that nursing facilities must also follow local, state and federal employment laws, conduct a thorough and objective job search to ensure the facility is choosing qualified and reputable candidates.
• Even if no harm comes of them, investigate complaints or concerns about patient care thoroughly and objectively. If it turns out that an employee did not provide quality care, the facility must act consistently and decisively to prevent such lapses in the future.

Good hiring and human resources practices cut down on lawsuits against nursing homes. However, they cannot prevent them altogether. Not all lawsuits against nursing home facilities have merit.

Even when good employees do make mistakes, it is still important that nursing homes receive fair treatment and only pay what they legally owe.

Nursing homes facing abuse or neglect claims should make sure they understand their options and alternatives.