The Direct Care News 
For direct care workers and their allies May 22, 2012
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CNA Injury Rates Linked to Low Pay, Lack of Respect
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 | | Galina Khatutsky |
A recent report from RTI press analyzed the sky-high injury rate--the highest for any occupational setting--among CNAs in nursing and residential care facilities. Lead researcher Galina Khatutsky talked to us this week about her team's findings.
One of your most interesting findings was that CNAs who have better working conditions--those who are higher paid, feel respected and rewarded for their work, and work for facilities they perceive as valuing CNA work--are less likely to get injured on the job. How strong are those correlations and what do you think causes them?
It was a pretty big effect. We don't know why, but we thought that maybe if CNAs perceive that their organizational cultures were welcoming that would promote a safer working environment because, for instance, it might be easier for them to collaborate and obtain additional help when they need it. We thought they might be less likely to feel that they have to rush and more likely to help each other. Read more.
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Direct from Washington, DC
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Senate rejects House budget: Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that the Senate will not consider H.R. 5652, the House budget plan that proposes $310 billion in cuts over 10 years. The plan would eliminate a preventive care fund established in the Affordable Care Act and make significant cuts to Medicaid, food stamps, and other social services. Read more.
Obama Administration releases plan to fight Alzheimer's: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced a national plan to improve the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and find a method to prevent it by 2025. To accomplish these goals, the President increases funding to fight the disease by $100 million in his FY 2013 budget. Read more.
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Open Door vs. Revolving Door: An Agency Owner Shares Retention Tips
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 | | Harry Graham |
Harry Graham and his wife Carol co-own Graham Behavioral Services, Inc., a mental health services agency with offices in Augusta and Portland, Maine. In addition, Graham presents at conferences on the topic of leadership and ethics and their effect on clinical outcomes, which is also the subject of a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) thesis he is currently researching. He talked to us earlier this month about what his work and his research have taught him about how investing time and money in direct care workers pays off for agency owners.
What is the subject of your thesis?
The premise is mythopoetic leadership. That means establishing a culture that's healthy for customer, vendors and staff. How do you retain the employee, the direct care workers?
It's a matter of organizational development, structure, and how approachable the executive team is. If staff don't feel they're appreciated or valued, it does not work. An autocratic management model in nursing or care work does not work. Read more.
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