Current statistics show the turnover rate for certified nursing assistants (CNA) is almost 28% per year as a result of stress and low pay.
Against this backdrop, a team of researchers from the University of Georgia conducted a survey which included over 200 CNAs in a bid to try and find out what could stop them from leaving their roles.
‘CNAs are the people who are going to be spending the day to day with aging adults and the disabled – people who really need long-term care. They really have the heart to do this work,’ lead author of the study, Anita Reina, said. ‘If we lose people who are skilled in these areas, we may end up dealing with a generation of people who are not getting the essential day-to-day care that they need.’
Within the study, experts asked nursing assistants about their job satisfaction and views of career progression – a factor that was found to stop them from experiencing burnout.
‘CNAs were happy about their jobs and their chosen career path. What they were not happy about was their progression opportunities,’ Reina continued. ‘Few of the places where they worked offered any kind of professional development opportunities.’
Reina added: ‘Health care programs can offer these kinds of job progression opportunities, whether it’s continuing education training within their own facilities or training people to take on a leadership role. Those opportunities might help some of the CNAs feel like they have a voice.’
However, striving for such progression means nursing assistants must also prioritise their well-being. The study, which can be found in full here, revealed that the most important topic to CNAs was improving support for their mental health and introducing methods of practising self-care.
Arguably this study couldn’t have come at a better time. The latest Census figures show that the US ageing population, which includes individuals aged 65 and over, grew at rapid speed between 2010 and 2020 and reached 55.8 million. This represents a 38.6% increase in just 10 years.
Photo by CDC via UnSplash
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