At Ensign’s 2011 annual meeting I spoke about some personal feelings re: hitting 10 years with the organization and in skilled nursing. It was a time of deep reflection. It was then that I developed some of the thoughts I’ve shared here about burn out, empathy, and a hunger to do more after surviving industry-common career crushing experiences. Some of those thoughts are found here.
As “luck” would have it, while I was in that very reflective mood, I was hit by some new, related ideas during a couple early morning rides. I love to listen to NPR podcasts during those runs/rides and back then I listened to a Freakonomics podcast that was like lighting a fuse in my mind. When I got to the office that morning, ideas started to crystalize, as seen on my whiteboard:
I don’t expect you can follow the train of thought there. But, with the help and input of my colleagues at Ensign, what started as some 10-year angst turned into the eprize! … our organization’s $150,000 competition to transform the industry by transforming the day-in-the-life of our residents. At that 2011 annual meeting, I shared with my friends and colleagues the story of how the idea of the eprize! was born and then challenged them to run with it. And … they did.
The executive directors and directors of nursing upped the ante to $150k and all agreed to put money into the ‘pot’ from their own facilities to fund the award. For more details about the competition and why we did it the way we did it, see this “halftime talk” I gave to the organization about it:
Well … the applications are finally in and uploaded onto the EnsignEprize.com website and the contestant facilities are lobbying their communities hard to have them ‘vote’ for their application. The eprize! award winner will be announced in early April. As I’ve read through and watch the videos of some of the applications I’ve gotten emotional to see the small and big improvements in the systems we use to care for our residents and patients with more dignity, humanity, and choice. I hope you take a minute to go to the website and see what we’ve been up to for the last year as a group. And, please, by all means … share this with your friends. Better yet, challenge your own organization to do something similar!
I am not interested in a “prize” for change in Long Term Care, However as an NHA with extensive experience in all areas of senior care, being an Eden Alternate did not prepared me for what I experienced until we as a family experienced the customer service, quality care issues, when my own Mother became very ill, in the last two years.
I took care of her, in her home 24/7 when she was not in SNF, Rehab, Hospitalization, or Home Health, my Mother and all residents deserve better, and can tell you we have so much work to do, that we have not even touched in caring for our communities.
Have not been back to my industry since my Mothers passing in April, 2011 but know that there is a program that I want to write to help, the resident, family deal with the changes in their lives. Everyone in the facility has job duties, job responsibilities, but we are missing the most important aspect in preparing the resident to deal with these changes.
We are not even merly addressing Patient Centered Care in our facilities to assist the residents, family address their particulat health issues.
Thank you
Sondra Eppard, NHA
[...] weeks in YEARS in skilled nursing. I’ve had the privilege to judge, in person, some of the finalists of the eprize in California and Colorado. Below are a few photos from my time behind the scenes. Unfortunate [...]
[...] re-engaged in a big way and 2011 became for me one of my favorite years at Ensign ever … The eprize! being a key ingredient in [...]