Skilled Nursing is an integral part of Inland Christian Home, providing critical medical care to those who need it. While it serves a very important purpose, it has long had a reputation as a “last stop” of sorts, a place for long-term care that people seldom leave. The skilled nursing unit has worked hard to change that opinion by striving for a homelike environment that focuses on short-term care. Thanks to a new care model, a new Director of Nursing (DON), and a dedicated team encompassing every department from administration to housekeeping, that goal is coming to fruition.
On June 20, 2023, ICH welcomed Daryll Whitehead to the team as the new DON of skilled nursing. Daryll came to Inland with more than 30 years of experience in long-term nursing care, acute care, managed care, and a philosophy that the staff in skilled nursing should always do their best to give the residents the best quality of life possible.
Daryll and the dedicated SNF staff have been working hard to help realize the community’s long-held ambition of a skilled nursing unit that focuses on short-term rehab rather than long-term convalescent care. While long-term care is still available for those who need it, skilled nursing is working hard to get residents rehabilitated and back home at their highest possible level of functioning, something that has been in the works behind the scenes for some time.
Upon arriving at ICH, Daryll found what he calls a “hidden gem.” Inland Christian Home was a pleasant surprise for him compared to other nursing communities, with a clean, well-supplied nursing unit and an atmosphere designed to create a home-like environment. His mission aligned perfectly with that of Inland’s administration to provide quality care to a mix of residents who are appropriately placed for the care they need. By working with those who are the right fit for this setting, all residents can receive care in a safe and secure environment that allows them to rehabilitate with minimal stress and anxiety, emotions that are common obstacles to healing and recovery.
The community is taking care of residents with more complicated wounds, higher numbers of IV therapies, and an increased number of admissions and discharges. While this may sound like a challenge, that challenge is proving to be beneficial to everyone.
The nursing staff is able to develop and utilize more technical skills, which benefits them in their careers and manifests in the care they can provide. Additionally, residents of ICH and the local community are less likely to be sent elsewhere to receive the level of care they need.
One of the ways they are achieving this success is with consistent staffing, meaning that more full-time positions are being filled and maintained, and the community can rely less on registry staff to fill open nursing shifts. This allows residents to benefit from consistent care from staff who have the chance to get to know them and their unique needs. This also results in higher accountability for the staff, which equates to more accurate documentation, fewer errors, and ultimately, a better quality of care.
Daryll’s focus on maintaining dignity and quality of life for the residents, a shared mission that has long been held by Inland Christian Home, is doing wonders for the community and its residents, who no longer view skilled nursing as a place to avoid. “We (the staff) get to go home at the end of the day,” he says. “We get to choose not to come to work. When the residents come here, they don’t have that option, so we are going to do our best to make sure they have the best quality of life possible while they are here.”