Beadles Nursing Home Benefits From NWTC Training

By Tami Frascht
© Canton Times
Reprinted with permission

More than 30 Beadles Nursing Home employees have received additional career training in the past weeks thanks to a new partnership with Northwest Technology Center (NWTC).

Tammy Mustard, Business and Industry Services Health Trainer at NWTC has directed five sessions of Clint Maun training at Beadles since the beginning of the year, and will conduct seven more sessions in the coming months.

Clint Maun is a Certified Speaking Professional nationally recognized for his innovative leadership in healthcare consulting, speaking and research. Since 1984, he has concentrated on innovative ideas and techniques to improve the "people business" of the healthcare profession.

Mustard says focusing on the "people business" or customer service aspect of healthcare is very important, particularly in long-term care facilities such as Beadles.

"This training is very customer service oriented," Mustard said. "Employees learn skills that allow them to provide better customer service not only to residents, but to their families as well."

Training topics thus far have ranged from being a 'Prepared Professional' to lessons answering the question 'Who are our customers?' After each session employees are given different assignments to further their understanding of the training. In one assignment, employees created their own name badges they now wear while working. In another, they developed and designed advertisements for Beadles- the best of which appeared in the Alva Review Courier.

 Mustard says projects like creating name badges and nursing home advertisements has significantly improved employee performance and attitude, particularly in how employees feel about themselves, the services they provide daily, and the nursing home itself.

Beadles Administrator Emma Jordan echoed those sentiments highlighting the fact that her employee turnover rate has dropped dramatically since the beginning of the Clint Maun training. A business with a turnover rate once as high as 40% to 60% has had just a single employee leave in the past two months.

Having pride in themselves and their work is one thing Mustard stresses in her training, and she says that Beadles employees have responded well.

"I've seen and heard many good points on how the staff polices itself, promotes the home, and has taken ownership," Mustard said.

The entire Beadles staff has taken advantage of the training opportunity.

"We've been very pleased with the turnout," Mustard said. "We usually have 30 to 40 employees at each training session, and that includes all areas of the staff, from nursing, to dietary, to administration."