Training the greatest performers on earth - long term care facility administrators

Nursing Homes, Feb, 2001 by Douglas J. Edwards

By taking the time to further their education and training, and help each other, administrators can prove that they are indeed among the greatest performers on Earth.

Curriculum for the Graduate Certificate in Long Term Care Administration (offered by The George Washington University/The Wertlieb Educational Institute for Long Term Care Management)

* Aging and Disability: Needs and Services (3 credits, online Summer 2001)

* Managing Long Term Care Programs and Facilities (3 credits, online Summer 2001)

* Organization and Management of Health Services (3 credits)

* Health Economics and Finance (3 credits)

* Human Behavior and Human Resource Management (2 credits)

* Wertlieb Institute Topic Courses (four required, 1 credit each)

* Management of Assisted Living, Continuing Care Retirement Communities, & Independent Housing for the Elderly

* Current Issues in Federal Long-Term Care Policy & Law

* Improving End-of-Life Care

* Development, Finance & Operational Issues Affecting Providers: A Comprehensive Look at the Long-Term Care Continuum

* Alzheimer's Disease Care: Organizing Policy, Program & Practice

Curriculum for the Long-Term Care Administration Certificate (offered at the undergraduate level by Saint Joseph's College of Maine/Long-Term Care Management Institute)

Core Courses

All required (3 credits each)

* Introduction to Long-Term Care Administration

* Introduction to Health Care Accounting

* Aging in America

* Long-Term Care Law & Regulations

* Human Resources Management

Capstone Courses

Students select one (3 credits)

* Nursing Home Administration

* Assisted Living Administration

* Home Health Care Administration

From Hospital to Long-Term Care: Warren Slavin

You're out of your mind.

What are you doing?

You're smarter than that!

These are the type of responses that Warren Slavin received when he made a "crazy" jump from hospital to long-term care administration in 1976. "[long-term care administration] was viewed as a second-class career," Slavin explains.

Intrigued by the possibility of helping a Catholic nursing facility build its services, Slavin intended to return to hospital administration after a short stint as a long-term care administrator. But his plans changed because "I found a very rewarding career in long-term care." In fact, he ended up staying at the Catholic home for 13 years. Now he is president and CEO of The Hebrew Home of Greater Washington, a not-for-profit complex that includes 558 nursing home beds, 500 units of independent living, 37 units for assisted living, an outpatient medical clinic and a nonskilled home health service.

He cites interaction with residents as a major reason why he stayed in the field: "I found that I liked being closer to the people that I serve...Being in hospital administration, I never got to know anybody I was serving. Their stay was very short, and my interest was on the service I was providing rather than on the people I was serving."

However, he points out he special challenges that nursing home administrators face: "I think for the typical nursing home administrator, it's in some ways probably a more difficult job than the typical hospital administrator because the nursing home administrator doesn't have the same resources. He might not have a human resources department or purchasing department-he might have to do all that himself. So nursing home administrators face a wider scope of activity, although, the organizations tend to be smaller therefore the financial responsibilities are less."