What factors influence staff training in residential and nursing homes?

Abstract

Reports on research conducted in eight residential and/or nursing homes belonging to six different charity organizations. The organizations ranged in size from local bodies dealing exclusively with care homes to large nationals involved in various other activities. However, staff training is a core issue to all of them, and activity directed towards it has met with varying degrees of success. Aims to highlight those indicators which will minimize failure of the training schedule and to make homes aware of the wider issues which affect training schemes.

The role of education and training in achieving change in care homes: a literature review

“…In keeping with the importance of promoting inclusivity, it is considered essential to involve staff as fully as possible in the design, content, delivery and evaluation of any education/training initiative (Lardner and Nicholson, 1990;Nolan, 1992;Huda, 1996;Lindeman, et al, 2003;Morrell, 2003;Jones, 2006), and to create a consensus among them on the need for education and the desired goals. This not only develops a sense of ownership but also establishes the relevance and appropriateness of the intended programme.…”

“…There is often a lack of agreement between management and staff as to the need for education (Cott, 1997;Watson and West, 2001), and most support staff (the most frequent target of educational initiatives) lack the authority to introduce change (Jones, 2006). This can be as a result of: lack of support from senior management or, more specifically, of training experience and skills (Huda, 1996;Hughes, 2005); limited interaction between carers and qualified (or professional) staff ; hierarchical management structures, resulting in an 'us and them' culture (Lindeman, et al, 2003;Rosen, et al, 2005); 'blame' for limited progress being aimed at staff, with too little attention being paid to organisational and corporate responsibilities (Ross, et al, 2001;van Weert, et al, 2004van Weert, et al, , 2006. Of all the above barriers, Lopez (2006) argues that the most enduring difficulties arise primarily because of the limited resources and the lack of acknowledgement in both health and social services and in wider society accorded to the contribution of the care home sector.…”

“…In addition to limited resources, efforts to ensure a well educated and motivated workforce are inhibited by several staff-related factors including: the limited financial rewards and low vocational image of the sector (Ron and Lowenstein, 2002); the low ratio of care staff to residents that compounds the difficulties of releasing staff Lindeman, et al, 2003;Lopez, 2006); high staff turnover, making it difficult to ensure that the majority of staff in employment have received appropriate education and training (Simons, et al, 2000;Ron and Lowenstein, 2002;Rosen, et al, 2005;Castle, 2006); low levels of literacy and, more widely, a background of poor educational achievement and few learning skills amongst staff (Huda, 1996;Walker and Osgood, 2000); low self-confidence and lack of motivation to attend seminars (Huda, 1996;Ross, et al, 2001;Aoki and Davies, 2002;Ron and Lowenstein, 2002), compounded by the limited incentives for staff to attend, especially if this is expected in their own time (Huda, 1996;Simons, et al, 2000;Ron and Lowenstein, 2002;Jones, 2006). The challenge is even greater for certain groups of staff, for example, those on night duty (Aoki and Davies, 2002).…”

Burnout matters: The impact on residential aged care staffs’ willingness to undertake formal palliative care training

“…40 Lack of motivation including limited incentives for staff, has been explored. 41 Previous research has also examined selfconfidence as both motivator and outcome of palliative care education. [42][43][44] The current research goes further to explore the predictive value of both socioenvironmental and psychological factors.…”