Enabling and empowering certified nursing assistants for quality dementia care

✍ Scribed by Cornelia Beck; Anna Ortigara; Suzie Mercer; Valorie Shue

• Book ID: 101290689
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 155 KB
• Volume: 14
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6230
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1166(199903)14:3<197::aid-gps972>3.0.co;2-q

✦ Synopsis

Currently, 1.2 million full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) care for more than 1.5 million residents in nursing homes where 75% of residents have dementia. By the year 2010, the number of residents in these institutions may double. Registered nurses (RNs) make up less than 7% of a home's total FTEs. In contrast, certi®ed nursing assistants (CNAs) account for more than 40% of total FTEs. Thus, CNAs serve as the primary caregivers in nursing homes. Typically, CNAs have a high school education or less, and receive little more than minimum wage. Their extensive contact with residents has a tremendous impact on quality of life, but signi®cant barriers limit their caregiving eectiveness. These barriers include poor pay, minimal long-term bene®ts, and insucient training, recognition and support for their physically and emotionally labor-intensive care. This paper addresses the issues of training CNAs for dementia care by suggesting an organizational framework within which to view dementia training; providing an overview of barriers to empowering CNAs to provide quality care to dementia residents; reviewing research that has addressed a speci®c barrier; making recommendations for future research; and suggesting research approaches to address these recommendations.