The Ceca Award for Skilled Nursing

A way to improve safety, lower turnover, and a create a sense of belonging among staff

The Challenge

Skilled nursing facilities are tasked with protecting many of your community’s most vulnerable residents. Your team members have made incredible sacrifices during the pandemic to protect your residents and their own families—not to mention themselves. And while the work is rewarding, it can often feel overwhelming.

SNFs rely on staff members to do physically, mentally, and emotionally challenging work, while frequently wrestling with funding and reimbursement shortages that can impact their ability to provide competitive compensation. The need for your team to be connected to their work and get satisfaction from what they do is critical. Harvard Business Review noted that healthcare workers are “more motivated to do work that has a positive impact on others, to place a higher value on social Best Practices for Nurse Recognition, and to be less motivated by salary than their private sector counterparts”. By finding impactful ways to show your appreciation for their efforts, you can keep them motivated and avoid costly turnover that also impacts your quality of care.

In the skilled nursing industry, resident safety is of highest importance. With CNAs providing the majority of direct care , turnover and training can become expensive in both financial and care terms. Limiting turnover is essential, and providing frequent, value based, symbolic Nurse Retention Strategies can inspire your team and promote a sense of loyalty and belonging.

Be an organization that caregivers WANT to work for!

The Role of Engagement

Engagement defined

Engaged employees are willing to go above and beyond to solve problems—often without being asked to do so. Engaged employees view their work as a calling and feel a sense of belonging at their organizations. They give maximum effort and strive to see their companies succeed. (Source: Achievers.com)

Research has long shown a correlation between overall engagement and turnover. According to the PRC study, there is also a strong overlap between caregiver engagement and better patient experiences.

So if turnover is a major challenge for SNFs, and better patient experiences are desired, what can be done about it?

The Solution

Best Practices for Nurse Recognition is a top driver of engagement

The Ceca Nurse Retention Strategies program provides a way for all your team members, as well as your residents and family members, to inspire and support one another. Ceca program participation rates are exceptionally high with over 30% of staff recognized each year, driving employee engagement and closer attention to residents. The Nurse Appreciation Programs and financial Awards are both welcome and meaningful to staff, but the symbolic recognition is exceedingly important given tight financial constraints and The Ceca Award Program can help you recognize high-touch care in a high-tech way, and allows you to publicly recognize more of your employees, across more departments, for the acts of care that define you. And with many caregivers nearing retirement age, it’s more important than ever to attract younger professionals with a familiar medium that can positively impact their job satisfaction.