March 10-14, 2025 is National Long Term-Care Administrator’s Week. During this week, staff, residents, families, and volunteers have the opportunity to say “thank you” and honor the administrators who lead our nation’s long-term care communities.
A heartfelt and sincere thank you from all of us at iCare Health Network to our dedicated Administrator team who continues to lead through challenging times and work tirelessly to safeguard and enrich the lives of the residents we serve.
In celebrating Long-Term Care Administrator’s Week we’re taking the opportunity to celebrate Heather Rodriguez, Administrator at Touchpoints at Bloomfield!
As an Administrator it is essential to foster a sense of community within your center that is made up of 3 major components – residents and their families, staff and your local community partners/vendors.
Early on in my career I came to the realization that I/the staff/the center would not make everyone happy at all times. The most important measure we could take was to be proactive early on with residents and their families and build a sense of trust with them so that when one of these situations arose, we could often overcome it to a mutually satisfactory conclusion. What may seem insignificant to us, the staff may in reality be quite significant to the resident and their family. It was important to know what was important to the resident and their family and learn how they truly felt about the care that is being provided. At times this is not easy for us to hear – we always want to think that we are the best, performing at top standards but in someone else’s mind, we might not measure up the same. We need to be willing to learn what the resident’s expectations of us as the care giver are and not take it personal or feel judged. We always we to remember to be in that person’s reality. What they feel and think is their reality. It doesn’t mean that we are not exceptional. A big part of building this trust was in education to the staff.
Often healthcare workers think of a skilled nursing center as their job. What is imperative is to teach that it is not just a job but is the home and the reality of those who live in the center. In most cases the resident does not chose the facility as their home. They are at the center because of their physical impairments. The family may have also have feelings of guilt because they are no longer able to provide the necessary care for their loved one. By the staff being able to put themselves and or imagine a loved one in those residents and families shoes they are often able to look at the situations that arise with understanding and empathy. We must always remember that we, the staff are the surrogate families for many of our residents, we are the day to day eyes and ears for the family who might not be able to be here. We are the faces they see on a day-to-day basis, the ones that the residents must rely on to provide their care and meet their needs. Patience, caring and love for what we do is a must when you work in healthcare.
As the Administrator it is my job to foster that same sense of community within my staff. The healthcare workers job and it does not matter what role they may have with in the facility is can be not only physically challenging but emotionally as well. I need to foster a safe place for my staff to be able to come to and listen to them and find solutions to the daily challenges they face while doing their job. Their success is my success. Saying hello, how’s your day going and really listening, bringing the staff in on decision making when able to all show that you do listen to them and care about not only the job they are doing but their wellbeing.
The last area that it is essential to foster a sense of community is with your local community including your partners and vendors. When an emergency occurs, when the facility is in need, we also must have solid established relationships built with those who we know will come to our aid, who will be there during those emergencies – basically have our back. Your partners know your center and capabilities. They can be one of your biggest advocates.