US nursing method may benefit Ireland

A groundbreaking staff-management partnership programme that improves the lives of nursing home residents could be established in Ireland, following a meeting between the programme's advocate and the Minister for Health.

Deborah King, executive director of the Education, Training and Job Security Program (ETJSP) in New York, met with Minister for Health Mary Harney to discuss the Quality Care Committee (QCC) project, in which ETJSP is involved.

The QCC project involves collaboration between unions, staff and employers, and has seen substantial improvements in quality of life for residents in the 40 US nursing homes where it operates. It includes training for staff working directly with residents, and reversal of the "hierarchy" in hospitals, with management and doctors listening to nurses and nursing assistants about the needs of the people they care for.

Ms King said that in most nursing homes the person who really gets to know the resident has no power over what happens.

"This project is about having the people who are actually doing the care, the healthcare workers, much more involved in both understanding who the person is and developing a plan of care for them," she said.

"Giving them [healthcare workers] the skills and training and giving them a voice is really giving the frail elderly a voice."

Homes in the US have introduced simple measures that have made a huge difference to residents, such as doing away with regularised mealtimes, making bathrooms more comfortable and finding out what music the residents enjoy.

The project has not only seen improvements for residents - staff have benefited, with job satisfaction and a reduction in staff turnover and absenteeism.

Ms King said that in Ireland - because of the large number of public nursing homes - the Government could sponsor change and put forward funding to make the programme work. She has also met with HSE, Siptu and INO representatives and representatives from Age Action Ireland.

"Hopefully the Government, unions and employers will take up on our offer to expand our project here. I feel we will end up learning from people in Ireland," she said.

Health department officials are to hold a meeting with Ms King to explore details. A spokeswoman for the Tánaiste said Ms Harney is keen to see what we can learn from Ms King's work.