A new procedure in the evaluation of nursing aide applicants. (Health Care Providers Inventory test)

Much of the day-to-day care in long-term-care facilities is provided by nursing aides. And to a great extent the quality of care is related to the quality of the people who are employed in those positions. In many settings, the turnover rate for such employees approaches the astronomical. National figures have been estimated to range from 45 to 100 percent. In 1985, the average nursing facility in Illinois had a turnover rate of 72 percent, with some recording turnovers as high as 400 percent. Annual turnover rates greater than 100 percent are common. The quality of care and the efforts to contain costs are severely hampered by such heavy turnover. Adequate programming cannot be implemented when the staff charged with such implementation are going through a revolving door.

The assessment of new staff is becoming increasingly more difficult, as facilities are reluctant to share information regarding previous employment, fearing law suits if a negative report is given. Typically, dates of employment are the only pieces of data that will be released. Employment decisions usually are based on interviews, employment history, and education. Those factors are important, but …