Nemlia News – September 2023
The Danish nursing home, Adelaide, experienced how stressed their staff were, along with finances and human resources being pushed to the limit. A strong focus on upgrading the level of personal care and attention became the turning point, improving conditions for residents, staff, and overall operations.
Taking over management of a care home with financial difficulties and an overstretched staff is no small task. However, that was the situation when Tina Strand Petersen became the manager of Adelaide Nursing Home a couple of years ago.
In partnership with Nemlia, she established new workflows in just a few months. Since then, the care home saves eight hours of unproductive routines each night while still enhancing conditions for both residents and staff. The most critical issues were identified by Tina and the team. Along with Nemlia they put changes in motion.
The Night Shift Was the Critical Issue
Strengthening residents’ quality of life and ensuring the best conditions required a new approach to healthcare. “We had challenges during the night shift, which placed a significant strain on our resources. Due to the workload and resulting sick leave, we were forced to have three persons on the night shift; two full time employees worked together with one substitute for our 55 residents. Having three persons on the night shift had been attempted as part of the solution, but it was also at the core of the challenge,” says manager Tina Strand Petersen.
At Adelaide, the new manager chose to address the issue head-on and explore alternative solutions to streamline workflows and improve resident care: “Providing more personal care and attention was not possible without a new approach to healthcare technology and the challenge of outdated systems that didn’t meet our need for quick and personalized responses,” explains the manager. “We had challenges during the night that were spreading. It encompassed economics, staffing, skills, and resources in general. Through Nemlia’s solution, it was easy to resolve.”
Better Health Through Oversight and Personal Care
Together with Nemlia, Adelaide ensured that staff had better oversight, allowing them to convert routines and long walks into more targeted and individual care. Tina Strand Petersen explains: “Residents now have more peace. Alarms only activate themselves when needed, and they always provide clear individual information, ensuring a quick response and the right assistance which prevents chaotic periods where residents are unsure of what to do. The residents no longer initiate incorrect or untimely daily routines or disturb other residents. We can now provide the right help at the right time.”
When asked if these improvements had additional benefits for residents, the manager’s answer is clear: “We experience fewer falls.”
Adelaide has gained better oversight, improved residents’ health, reduced the number of agency workers, and saved a lot of time on routine checks. What’s interesting, however, is how these improvements were leveraged to further enhance the nursing home’s advantages.
Staff´s competences are Upgraded and Temp Services are Reduced
The most obvious benefits is that residents enjoy better health, receive more personal care, and feel the care more acutely, while staff has better oversight and more time.
Tina Strand Petersen estimates that, due to the collaboration and other improvements, they still save the equivalent of eight hours of unproductive work every night at the nursing home.
The manager and healthcare staff immediately converted the eight hours of daily saved time into even better conditions: “We use the time we’ve freed up through Nemlia to reduce the need for temp workers. The saved time and the more individualized care even allow our two permanent night shift personnel to have more time available than when we had an additional substitute on the team. We use this extra time to enhance their skills. They notice the improvement in their competencies and the positive impact they make. It also frees up resources in the day shift, strengthening loyalty and increases job satisfaction.”
From Economic Pressure to Relief
When asked about the economic impact in the short and long term, Tina Strand Petersen breathes a sigh of relief and elaborates: “The economics surrounding this solution are simply delightful. (…) There are no unknowns in the expense level. With this arrangement, we know our monthly expenses, and operations are never burdened with anything else. And the cost savings it provides in other areas are significantly higher.”
The Path Ahead for the Nursing Home
The goal of Adelaide care home has always been to create good homes and opportunities for a good life. The dialogue with Nemlia began because they were challenged by the significant strain on their staff and had operations that were challenged. “Our starting point for engaging with Nemlia was financial,” says Tina Strand Petersen, and she adds, “We simultaneously used the new approach to upgrade our staff and improved care, and now we are better prepared for the demographic changes we see coming. But the effort doesn’t end here,” she smiles, preparing for the next meeting with Nemlia to explore opportunities for further strengthening individual care and attention at the care home.
Do You Want to Strengthen Care for Residents and Staff at Your Care Home?
We love that our solutions can simultaneously assist with resources, oversight, and, most importantly, improved well-being for the residents and staff at the nursing homes we collaborate with. We’d be more than happy to visit you and relate it directly to your nursing home, your residents, and your colleagues, whether you’re staff under pressure, management with financial considerations, or a visionary looking to enhance care and attention even further.
Please don’t hesitate to call us or click here and we’ll get back to you right away.
