STRATEGIES FOR CONSISTENT CARE IN SENIOR LIVING

Abstract

This research is designed to provide systematic information about the consistent staffing problem in one nursing home, Cornell Manor, specifically the implementation of consistent staff assignment, and the potential influence of contextual factors on its implementation. It is focused on finding the best assignment of CNAs in households to improve consistency scores, with the objective being to assign as few different CNAs as possible to each unit. This study deals with a fixed workforce size with mixed contract types, full-time and part-time. It utilizes both optimization models and a comparison of assignment heuristic to develop CNAs scheduling decision-making tools to find staff assignments that ensures consistent care. The findings include that too many part-time staff working too few shifts is the major cause of bringing up the consistency score. The heuristic policies this study developed also demonstrate their effectiveness using simulation experiments. Reducing the size of units and adding partial flexibility by reassigning CNAs at the beginning of shifts to their home unit are also found to improve consistency scores.