What Information Goes on the Community Quality Board?
Think of a time when an older adult you know fell. They’re not hurt and the incident passes. If it happened in a nursing or assisted living facility, chances are that no one except the Administrator or the Nursing Director will remember who it was or when or where it happened. That’s because after an incident is logged it’s usually forgotten.
Now imagine that everyone working at the community knew what had happened each shift. How many falls, where they took place, and who to look out for. You can see how the quality of care would improve, as would communication and accountability.
The first visual tool we put on the board is the Care Calendar.
Here’s how it works:
Shaped like the International Red Cross symbol, each day is represented by a square.
Color the square green for “met our goal” and red for “didn’t meet our goal.” A care calendar for falls would show green for a no-fall day and red for a fall-day.
A quick glance at the beginning of the shift can tell a caregiver what kind of day it is: a green or a red.
Over time, you can track how many falls happened month to month.
Is the Care Calendar just for falls?
No. You can use it to measure any type of incident that occurs with residents or staff such as:
Falls
Medication errors
Service plan updates
Infections
Call light answer times
Showers given
Unplanned staff absences
Breaks taken during shift
Training completed
Injuries to workers
Compliments given or received
The Care Calendar is a versatile tool. It can be used anywhere, even at home. It helps track and communicate progress on any issue. It encourages improvement. We hope you try it. Download a free template here.
