Navigating Long-Term Care Workbook: A Reflective Workbook for Nurses

Developing and delivering effective training programs in long-term care settings can be challenging due to time constraints and competing priorities. Nurse educators responsible for developing training content and activities often find themselves pulled in different directions, leaving them with limited time to research, prepare, and deliver engaging training sessions. As a result, they may resort to presenting quick ad-hoc "re-education" materials on compliance-related issues, which are often ineffective since staff members have grown accustomed to them and simply sign off without fully reading or comprehending the information presented.Furthermore, in-person training is becoming rare, and orienting new hires is a nightmare since staff often sit through boring videos and topics. Good staff orientation or training programs foster relationship building, help nurses develop a sense of belonging, improve staff retention, reduce turnover, and improve quality care delivery.Nurses like me appreciate engaging, interactive training that fosters their professional growth, and it is no wonder they barely show up for "in service." However, with the current staffing shortages, it is more urgent to be creative and adopt a new way of training nurses in long-term care settings.This book, "Navigating Long-term Care: A Reflective Workbook for Nurses," and its training manual, Navigating Long-term Care: A Practical Approach for Nurses, seek to bridge these training gaps and enhance quality care delivery.In this book, you will evaluate your learning and understanding of critical long-term care work processes throughCase study reviewsInteractive individual exercisesGroup activitiesSelf-reflective exercises to foster mindfulness in the workplaceJournalingPoetryClinical skill competenciesI encourage trainees to accept this learning approach and allow themselves to grow as long-term care nurses. I suggest a copy of the workbook be given annually to staff during retreats. Also, it can be used as a tool for re-education, where specific chapters are assigned when deficient practice(s) are observed.Finally, this workbook will revamp nursing orientations and hopefully improve staff retention and quality care delivery.Enjoy your time with the book! Read more