Caregiver Mentor

The Caregiver Mentor program is designed to welcome new caregivers and provide additional support and guidance during their 90-day orientation period, as well as forge relationships that result in continued support throughout the caregiver's career. This role will function in providing standard care to residents on a regular basis, while exemplifying leadership and mentoring to new caregivers in the community.

Responsibilities

Basic Assisted Living Skills

• Performs caregiving duties in accordance with accepted standards of resident care. Duties may include measuring height and weight and vital signs.
• Performs assist duties in accordance with accepted standards of resident care. Duties may include assists with dressing, grooming, bathing, escorts and transfers
• Cares for the resident's environment.
• Recognizes changes in the residents' behavior and conditions and reports those changes to the Assisted Living Director.
  
  

Personal Care

• Provides regulated queuing services by providing assistance to an assigned group of residents.
• Provide stand by assistance for all personal care for residents, including bathing, showering, shampooing, oral hygiene, skin care, hair care, nail care, dressing, shaving, toileting, transferring, ambulating, and transporting.
• Provides residents with personal laundry.
• Follows proper charting procedures for resident care items.
• Ensures residents recreational needs are met by providing activities and assisting residents to attend programs/events.
  
  

Nutritional Care

• Assists residents with nutritional needs, including setting dining tables, serving meals, providing proper fluid requirements, and offering substitutions when appropriate.
• Monitors and reports food and fluid intake and offers/provides snacks between meals.
  
  

Restorative Care

• Encourages residents to develop and maintain independence and highest level of functioning in all personal care.
• Encouragers and provides functional cueing for the use of assistive devices in transferring, ambulating, eating, and dressing.
  
  

Infection Control / Safety

• Demonstrates knowledge of infection control in all resident care to prevent the spread of disease and infection.
• Adheres to strict infection control guidelines including hand washing and universal precautions.
• Reports any and all exposures to infection in accordance with OSHA and SSL guidelines, policies, and procedures.
• Demonstrates knowledge of emergency policy and procedures.
• Performs all duties in a safe and efficient manner.
• Demonstrates awareness of potential hazards and reports unsafe conditions to appropriate community staff to maintain a safe environment for residents, families, and staff (i.e. reports spills, faulty equipment, maintains a clear path for resident ambulation, uses wheelchair locks appropriately, etc.).
  
  

Communication

• Utilizes community resources and maintains open communications with all community staff.
• Communicates skillfully with residents, including those with sensory losses and/or dementia.
• Receives and gives report on residents' conditions and changes in conditions to other staff at the beginning and end of each shift.
• Observes and reports residents' condition changes to the Assisted Living Director immediately and exchanges resident information with the Assisted Living Director on an on-going basis through the use of written Incident and Concern reports.
• Assists the Assisted Living Director in the development of the residents' service plan and uses this information to provide daily resident care.
• Documents residents' information accurately and on a daily basis on the appropriate forms.
• Documents any / all resident concerns and/or incidents as they occur on the appropriate forms.
  
  

Customer Service

• Is an active member of the resident care team and supports community goals.
• Is pleasant, respectful, and courteous in all interactions with residents, families, staff, and other visitors to the center.
• Is a positive representative of the community at all time
• Is consistently responsive to residents' needs.
• Assists residents with meal reminders, including setting tables. serving and offering appropriate suggestions with meal selection.
• Observes and reports appetite and offers/ provides snacks between meals.
• Acknowledges residents' and families concerns and initiate's action.
• Assists residents in participating in planned activities including getting residents to activities and participating in them.
  
  

Residents Rights

• Provides privacy and maintains confidentiality.
• Ensures the residents' right to make personal choices in agreement with the residents' service plan.
• Promotes and provides for and assist with residents' participation in activities.
• Ensures care and security of residents' personal possessions.
• Ensures all confidential information, i.e., resident charts, reports. etc. are kept locked in a designated secure place at all times
• Provides care that ensures residents are free from abuse, mistreatment, and neglect, and immediately reports any such instance to the Executive Director.
• Provides care to avoid the need for chemical/physical restraints by maintaining a safe environment for residents.
• Provides care to maintain a safe environment for residents.
  
  

In-Service Education

• Attends all in-service education programs mandated by Corporate, State, and Federal guidelines.
• Responsible for pursuing and completing a minimum of 12 hours in-service education per year where individual development is needed to comply with Federal regulations.
  
  

Quality Improvement

• Audits resident care and uses the audit information to improve the quality of care.
• Demonstrates commitment to continuous quality improvement job responsibilities.
  
  

Caregiver Mentor

• Tour the new employee to ensure that they are familiar with the community
• Introduce new employee to other co-workers
• Frequently checks in with the new team member to ensure they are comfortable with their work assignments and have the resources they need
• Evaluate progress daily and communicate with the Wellness Director if assignments need to be modified
• Review Caregiver job description with new team member and provide training on the essential roles and responsibilities that are outlined
• Provide training on employee competencies that are outlined on the Training Checklist
• Be professional at all times, be seen as a leader and ensure personal conduct exemplifies the company's values and mission
  
  

Education and Experience

• High school graduate or GED preferred.
• State certification/registration or graduation if from a state approved nursing assistant training program preferred.
• Preferred knowledge and experience in nursing or senior living, home health, or similar.
• CPR certified and/or first aid preferred
  
  

Internal Candidacy Requirements

• Employed by the community a minimum of 6 months
• No attendance write-ups in the previous 6 months
• Performance in good standing
• Positive attitude, dedicated, hard worker
• All preceptors must first conduct a mock tour and be interviewed by the ED and WD.
  
  

Skills/Knowledge Requirements

• Good physical and mental health.
• Basic reading and writing skills and ability to speak English.
• Strong organizational and time management skills, ability to prioritize and accomplish multiple responsibilities.
  
  

Physical Requirements

• Ability to stand, walk, bend, and squat for prolonged periods.
• Ability to push and pull objects and carry up to 20 pounds, unassisted on a: frequent basis
• (Occasionally up to 50 pounds, unassisted). Full use of hands, arms, and legs (i.e. washing, feeding, and dressing residents, writing notations etc.).