Transition.
Surprise, I switched jobs again! I’m still with the same senior care company, but in a completely different role. I am really seeing the benefit of working all over the map of senior living, so to speak. Already I have a broader spectrum of experience than others who have been in the industry for longer than I have.
I am now the Social Services Director at a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF), also known as a Post-Acute Rehab (PAR). This facility, like most SNFs, also has a wing called an Intermediate Care Facility (ICF), which is essentially SNF residents who live there permanently as long-term residents, rather than discharge back to the community like SNF residents.
A SNF is where your grandmother might end up after the hospital when she’s broken her hip or had a heart attack. The hospital can only keep her for a few days, but she still is benefiting from physical therapy and needs nursing oversight, so she can’t go back home to her house or her Assisted Living Facility (ALF) where she lived before just yet. That’s where we come in.
SNFs have nurses on site 24/7, as well as Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) and therapists. Grandma can have medically-trained staff check in on her any time and oversee her care, and she can work with therapists every day to help her learn to walk with her new cane, build her strength back up, and teach her ways to safely navigate her environment back home. Often, therapists will even do a home evaluation where they visit the place the patient will be discharging to, and they can identify specific concerns before Grandma goes back home. For example, they might come back and advise her to move her bedroom to the first floor because stairs are difficult for her, or they might focus on stair training during her last week at the SNF so that she is able to confidently and safely climb the stairs to her room once she’s back home.
Residents in the ICF are folks who need the nursing oversight and care that a SNF provides forever. Some of these residents have progressive forms of dementia, like Alzheimers, and require 24/7 monitoring. Others are diabetics with wounds that will never heal, and therefore need nursing care constantly. When people picture senior living, their mind usually jumps to images of an ICF because these used to be the only option for senior care. Now, however, we have multiple tiers and options for seniors to choose from when they need additional assistance. In my experience, it’s more likely that a senior will return home after a stay in a SNF if their home is somewhere where they have the option of receiving additional assistance, such as an Independent Living Facility (ILF) or an ALF.
Previously, I worked as a Community Liaison for the home health branch of this senior care company. My job was to connect with other industry professionals and work to build relationships and encourage the use of our home health services. I enjoyed this role, but I didn’t see or interact with the residents or patients nearly as much, and I honestly missed it. So far I have really enjoyed the change to Social Services even though I’m only a few weeks in, and I’m looking forward to getting my feet under me and really leaning into this role.
