『Finding Solutions to Long Term Care Workforce Shortages』のカバーアート

Finding Solutions to Long Term Care Workforce Shortages

Finding Solutions to Long Term Care Workforce Shortages

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概要

 In this episode, host Debbie Stadtler is joined by Rachel Bunch, executive director of the Arkansas Healthcare Association, for a conversation about innovative approaches to addressing workforce shortages in long term care. Bunch shares her professional journey and discusses how the association responded to member needs by launching the Arkansas Healthcare Association School of Nursing. What began as a medication assistant program designed to help CNAs expand their responsibilities and allow nurses to practice at the top of their license evolved into a tuition-free, employer-focused CNA-to-LPN pathway. The discussion explores how the program incorporates accelerated coursework, coordinated work schedules, and wraparound student support to improve retention and completion rates. Bunch also highlights the school’s strong outcomes, including a nearly 92% graduation rate, ongoing expansion efforts across the state, a focus on geriatric care training and faculty development, and future plans to explore an LPN-to-RN pathway. She also reflects on the importance of listening to members and being willing to pursue nontraditional solutions to workforce challenges. Perspectives in Long Term Care is produced by Association Briefings. Transcript Debbie Stadtler: We know that finding workers in long term care is a challenge. Learn more from the Arkansas Health care Association, who have seen great success in starting a nursing school to address that need. Hi, I'm Debbie Stadtler, editor-in-chief of Provider Magazine, the flagship publication of the American Health care Association (AHCA) and the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL). I'd like to welcome you to this episode of Perspectives in Long Term Care, a monthly podcast produced by AHCA and NCAL. Each month, we'll talk with long term care and assisted living professionals about the opportunities and challenges impacting the long-term and post-acute care profession. Today, my guest is Rachel Bunch, executive director of the Arkansas Health Care Association. Rachel also serves on the Governor's Council on Aging and the Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Council. She is the president of the Arkansas Health Care Association’s School of Nursing, which we are going to talk more about shortly. Welcome, Rachel. Rachel Bunch: Thank you very much. Debbie Stadtler: Let's start at the beginning. Tell us about your career journey. What led you to get started in long term care? Rachel Bunch: I guess you could say it's one of those... What's the quote about the best laid plans are not plans? So I actually started working at the Arkansas Health Care Association when I was in college back in 2008. Started working there and really enjoyed it. I, at the time, didn't know really what an association was or the role that they played, and really enjoyed my work there so much with them, and then did a lot of different duties with them. Started in my position at the end of 2013, and so I'm going on my 18th year now with the Health Care Association in Arkansas, which is really wild and hard to believe that it's been that long. Time flies when you're having fun, right? Definitely. A little bit of a non-traditional route. Debbie Stadtler: We know that workforce challenges are top of mind for long term care providers, and the Arkansas Health Care Association decided to help address this challenge with a nursing school. Tell us more about it. Rachel Bunch: Sure. Thank you. So it's been a really exciting journey and something that has really, we've laid the groundwork over the last several years. We didn't necessarily seek out to do this. We've done education at the association for many years, just like a lot of the other state affiliates offer, and this really started with our medication assistant program in 2023. That was a, a level in our workforce, a licensure level that a lot of other states had, and we didn't, and worked to add that through legislation and with various state boards in Arkansas. And once we started offering that program, it really took off, I think because we were a little bit behind the curve on having those professionals in the state, but also the workforce shortage was so great. And the key difference that it made for us, it allowed us... The structure of our program, it allowed us to take existing CNAs and put them through this medication assistant program for higher wages, more responsibility, and they went through the program, and they were so motivated to go to school. The facilities really embraced it, and it went well because it gave our nurses on the floor got time back in their day to do other nursing tasks other than pass meds, and it really allowed those nurses to work at the height of their license, which made such a difference. And so that was the beginning, and we had a lot of motivated students, a lot of motivated providers that really had done some tuition reimbursement before but hadn't had a real structured process to be able...
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