The travails of working in a nursing home

"Next March, Mary Voerding is due to celebrate her 30th year at Maplewood Rehabilitation Center, a suburban Twin Cities nursing home where she has worked as a nurse, care coordinator and now front desk receptionist. Cracking jokes last month about how she could not wait to get photographed, Voerding put visitors, patients and management at ease. Like many nursing home workers, Voerding said that she sees her job as a calling to help those in need. Unlike many nursing facility employees, Voerding has stuck around."

"Thirty-six percent of all Minnesota nursing home workers quit or are fired within one year of starting, according to data the nursing homes' themselves report to the Minnesota Department of Human Services. These self-reported turnover rates run the gamut between 100% annual staff retention at Good Shepherd Lutheran Home in Rushford to 25% at the Villas at Osseo in the Hennepin County city of its namesake. But if the turnover numbers vary, nursing home workers tell distressingly similar tales of stress and fatigue."

"Vikki Knigge, a licensed practical nurse at the Shores of Worthington, likes acting as a companion to residents. "I just want to make sure their day is special and make sure that I make them laugh, and I listen to them and let them express what they need to express," she said. She works between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. each shift, which allows her to take care of her granddaughter during the day. But it also means that Knigge is used to sleeping just four hours a day."

Mary Voerding will celebrate 30 years at Maplewood Rehabilitation Center after roles as nurse, care coordinator and front desk receptionist. Thirty-six percent of Minnesota nursing home workers quit or are fired within one year, based on data reported to the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Reported turnover ranges from 100% retention at one home to 25% at another, yet workers across facilities report similar stress and fatigue. Staff describe emotional labor, unpredictable shifts, resident anger, long hours and sleep disruption. Many workers view caregiving as a calling but face chronic understaffing and fatigue that contribute to high turnover.

Read at Sahan Journal