Our Staff

Our Residents enjoy the highest staff to resident ratio available, double that of our competitors, which results in employee longevity. Our long-term employees therefore have the opportunity to become familiar with the individual needs and preferences of each resident, enabling them to bond with their residents thereby insuring the best care possible.

It is the hands-on caregivers who are the closest to the residents. Our Certified Nurse Aides and Home Health Aides are all credentialed by the state and are provided with additional orientation and on-going training by Potomac Homes to qualify them for providing care for your parents.

Over time a symbiotic relationship develops between the resident and his/her CNA. Each becomes the support system of the other and it becomes in their best interest to care for their residents. In return the resident will receive the best quality of care that the assistant is capable of giving. It is human nature for people (especially care givers) to bond with each other, in the right environment, it happens naturally. On average our direct caregivers have been with us over three years, with many employees reaching their fifth and sixth anniversaries with Potomac Homes.

Training

Potomac Homes has a specialized, five-step training program designed to orient staff to the strategies for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and related dementia. Additional specific training provided to staff that is unique to Potomac Homes includes medication management, behavioral challenges, validation therapy, reminiscence, creative art, sanitation, safety, and emergency preparedness. Sensitivity training is also provided to equip the employees to understand the complexities of aging and the disease progression.

Employees are taught to recognize subtle changes in residents' condition. Employee longevity enables the staff to gain an intimate knowledge of their residents' personal habits and characteristics, much the same as a mother would recognize a subtle change in their child. This enables them to spot problems quickly as they arise. Many health problems, when detected early can be managed by their physician enabling them to continue to function independently, and live in more comfort.

Awards

Potomac Homes employee wins Front-line Caregiver's Recognition Award for Excellence in Long Term Care

Saturday, February 08, 2003

Ramsey: Potomac Homes' own Annie Smith was honored today at a special luncheon hosted by NeighborCare Pharmacy with the Front-line Caregiver's Recognition Award for Excellence in Long Term Care.

This award recognizes the most outstanding certified nursing assistants who demonstrate outstanding professionalism in leadership, compassion and patience; advocates quality care and resident rights, and dedicates themselves to their facility and to the field of Geriatrics. The Administrator nominated candidates and selections are reviewed by a committee of professionals.

"Annie is a remarkably gifted person whose compassion for her work and her residents is constant and unwavering. Annie can often be heard tirelessly encouraging the residents using validation therapy to complete even simple tasks that become increasingly challenging for those caught in the web of dementia. People say that Annie has a way with people, even an intuition honed by years of loving and caring for the elderly" notes her Administrator Tamara Singer. "People say that she is gifted, but to our residents and their families, Annie is the gift."

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