Resident assessments

I wanted to talk about resident assessments. Identifying resident needs also should include an assessment of the skill set of the care staff that will be providing the care and services. Traumatic Brain Injury clients have a different set of needs than dementia or mental health clients. Staff need to receive training specific to the needs of residents with Traumatic Brain Injury. When care staff tell supervisors something is wrong they need to be listened to and the resident assessed. Nurses who complete assessments for residents need to access their resources to gather the necessary information they need. The internet is loaded with various resources from credible sources.

Assessments of residents in Assisted Living Centers

The position of the licensed nurse in an Assisted Living Center comes with a lot of autonomy and requires the discipline of a self starter. How to integrate assessment skills with the requirements of an assisted living is challenging for nurses who enter the field without the experience of well developed critical thinking. Assessment of a resident needs to include information from family members, the resident, the resident's physician, case manager and the licensed nurse. The assessment is pivoted around what makes up the resident's life, not just a head to toe physical assessment. The question that needs to be answered is "Can the facility meet the needs of the resident in a manner that provides the highest quality of life for that resident?" Combining all the information regarding a resident and developing a service plan that identifies what services the resident needs and wants, at the time he or she wants, in the manner he or she wants, determines if the resident's needs will just be met or if the needs will be met in an atmosphere that validates the person and supports their rights.