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This post was created in partnership with VCare International, New Zealand’s leading Retirement Village and Aged Care software solution provider.

Providing a workplace where your employees feel inspired and encouraged to work is one of the most effective ways to recruit and retain staff. In recent years, technology has become critical in the decision-making process for potential employees when considering prospective employers.

Technology can be used to freshen up workplace processes and foster motivation, leading to a huge range of positive effects on a company. Below, we’ve highlighted several ways in which technology impacts recruitment and retention of care teams, and how implementing the correct tools and solutions can enhance your organisation.

Increases mobility

For many in the aged care industry, leaving their care home for the day doesn’t mean their work is over. Staff are constantly required to keep on top of responsibilities even when away from the care home, incorporating technology can give them the ability to monitor events such as falls/incidents/missed medication when offsite. This can ultimately increase their motivation and boosts your appeal as an employer, because they know they can get their job done well with as few barriers as possible.

While offering work-from-home options may not be viable for all aged care roles, incorporating technology can offer increased mobility in other ways. For example, technology can provide nurses with the ability to record patient information immediately without the need to take notes, go back to their nurses station and re-input the data into another computer. In addition, staff can use innovative software solutions such as PainChek® and VCare, and no longer have to go away and input their results later. Updates can be done quickly and immediately with a resident, making information easier to recall and reducing the likelihood of double-handling.

Accessing this information from anywhere means facilities located across multiple sites can stay up to date with records at every location, and top-level management can monitor information input to ensure it aligns with policies and procedures. These benefits attract new staff, as they know they are going to work in an environment with minimised stress where they can provide a higher level of care for their residents. It also provides a workplace that encourages long-term staff, and in a high-turnover industry such as aged care, this is invaluable.

Offers opportunity for learning and growth

Giving staff the freedom and digital tools to do their job more effectively is a direct way to empower staff to do their best work. Moreover, implementing digital tools and solutions gives your staff the opportunity to develop and grow as they learn new skills associated with this technology.

Providing technology as a solution isn’t a quick fix, but encouraging training and continuous development is a great way to engage and upskill your staff, and give them the capability to improve processes. Making your staff feel like they’re a valued asset will also encourage  them to become advocates for your organisation.

In addition, there is a constant need for continuous learning and development in aged care, with nurses needing to hit certain numbers of education and personal development hours each year. Incorporating new technology into your facility can provide them with the opportunity to gain additional skills and add this to their time.

Provides real-time data and feedback

In many cases, implementing technology dramatically reduces paperwork and the need to manually identify trends or issues, by providing a single source of truth. In addition, technology provides instant and real-time feedback, producing results immediately. Instant data access is hugely attractive to staff as they can save time and focus on more critical tasks.

Technology has transformed the collection, storage, and sharing of aged care resident information. Care management systems instantly record this information to provide real-time data and feedback,saving time, reducing errors and ensuring residents receive the highest level of care. This improves engagement and motivation through consistently guiding employees in the right direction, providing a more attractive workplace for prospective and current staff.

Improves collaboration

Collaboration tools have become increasingly popular in recent years, they can enhance how staff can work together as a team rather than individually. Collaborating and visualising others’ work and progress also increases accountability within the team. Staff can keep track of who’s working on what and assist other staff when needed.

Using technology in the aged and disability care sectors provides nurses and caregivers with the tools to work together and provide their residents with better care and outcomes. For example, some aged care software provides staff with dashboards, including shift handovers. During handover sessions, the nurses can immediately see task completion for the previous shift and plan for the next shift.

The current nursing and healthcare worker shortages have brought to light the critical importance of retaining and recruiting aged care teams. Digital tools and solutions play a crucial role in motivating and empowering staff to provide quality care to residents and providing opportunities for ongoing growth and development. Aged care facilities that take advantage of all that technology has to offer stand to benefit greatly by attracting and retaining the industry’s most passionate and committed workers.


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