Visited a Memory Care facility in Phoenix last month and got worried

They had three different shift changes during my 45 minute tour and nobody seemed to know which resident needed their meds at 3pm, has anyone else noticed this kind of turnover problem at local facilities?

3 comments

3 Comments

stella2211d ago

Shift changes are a huge red flag. You should always visit at different times of day, and try to go right before a mealtime, that's when you see the real staffing situation. Ask them directly what their average CNA to resident ratio is during the hardest hours, like 6pm to 8pm. Three shift changes in 45 minutes means they're running on a skeleton crew and relying on agency staff who don't know the residents... it's a nightmare for medication management. Another thing to check is how many temporary or agency workers they use versus full-time people, because that turnover is what causes the gaps in care.

hannahcraig10d ago

Gotta disagree a bit here actually. In my experience, places that are super uptight about showing you exactly the right number of staff and perfect ratios during tours are sometimes hiding other problems. I've walked into facilities that had great staffing on paper but the culture was terrible, like CNAs just going through the motions and not really engaging with residents. And honestly, some of the best care I've seen came from places that were a little chaotic during shift changes because the staff actually knew each resident and took time to hand off details properly, not just numbers. Agency workers aren't always the devil either, some of them are amazing and choose that life because they're really dedicated to filling gaps where needed. I'd rather see a facility that's honest about their struggles and shows you the real messy moments than one that has a perfect script for every visit time.

bailey.jennifer10d ago

Oh, totally, what @stella22 said about agency staff is spot on - I learned that the hard way with my aunt's place. We went at 5:30pm one night and it was like a ghost town, just one poor CNA running around trying to do everything. The thing that actually helped me was talking to the maintenance guy in the parking lot, he was really honest about how many temps they had coming in every week, way more than the tour guide ever mentioned. So yeah, definitely ask about agency workers specifically, and if they try to dodge the question or give you a number that sounds too good, that's a big warning sign.