Long-Term Care Survey Alert

An integrated approach can improve care and your bottom line.

Restorative nursing programs can be worth their weight in gold, but they are also expensive to provide. So make sure your facility receives Medicare and Medicaid, if available, for its top-notch programs.

The problem: Some facilities can't code restorative on the MDS because they only offer the program five days a week, says Nancy Augustine, MSN, RN, a consultant with LTCQ Inc. in Lexington, MA.

Solution: Using an integrated restorative model of approach, CNAs can be trained to provide restorative and implement the restorative plan of care seven days a week, says Augustine.

Example: Restorative aids can help staff out with morning care, for example, and then have dedicated time to provide restorative to more complex residents, with a goal of handing off the restorative program to the CNA, suggests Cheryl Boldt, RN, a consultant with Maun-Lemke in Omaha. The restorative aid can ask the CNA, for example, to help her walk a resident who has difficulty with ambulation, Boldt suggests. That way, the resident's caregiver learns how to walk the person and can take that over at some point.

"The restorative aids teach staff to integrate the restorative interventions in their daily care," adds Boldt.