2001 Authors: Linda S. Noelker, Ph.D., Farida K. Ejaz, Ph.D.

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Exerpt from "Key Issues": Of all nursing home employees, nursing assistants spend the most time with residents and provide the majority of the direct care that residents receive daily. Yet, they are the lowest paid workers in health care. In addition to the physically and emotionally demanding nature of the work, residents, their families, and other staff sometimes do not treat them with respect. Consequently, the turnover rate among nursing assistants on an annual basis can exceed 100 percent. High turnover compromises the quality and continuity of resident care. It also substantially increases the cost of care while detracting from its quality. It’s been estimated that nursing homes spend $3,000 to $4,000 to replace a nursing assistant who resigns or is fired...

Exerpt from "Key Objectives": The project’s overall goal was to identify effective ways to improve the job satisfaction and retention of nursing assistants in nursing homes in order to have greater continuity in care and better quality of care for residents. The first objective was to gain a better understanding of the reasons why some newly trained nursing assistants are satisfied with their job and remain employed in a nursing home for at least six months after being trained, while others are dissatisfied and either resign or are let go...

... The second objective was to improve nursing assistants’ training to care for residents with Alzheimer’s disease or other memory-impairing disorders and, at the same time, give them a “career ladder” or opportunity to have a new title and higher hourly wages...

...The third objective was to improve job satisfaction and retention among nursing assistants employed by five local facilities by improving the management skills of their supervisors. The development of a new program for supervisors was guided by information obtained from a series of focus groups with supervisors of nursing assistants at five greater Cleveland nursing facilities...

Report Contributors:
Sue Miranda, Benjamin Rose
Denise Rucker-Burton, Cuyahoga Community College
Nancy Jirousek, Alzheimer’s Association, Cleveland Area Chapter
Darlene Horabik, Alzheimer’s Association, Cleveland Area Chapter

Research team members:
Linda S. Noelker, Ph.D., Farida K. Ejaz, Ph.D., Dorothy Schur, B.A., Jennifer Reich, M.A.