Preparation Activities
Personnel Policies
The following policies should be established:
- salary levels, benefits and hours of work
- professional registration and
licensing
- professional supervision for
nursing procedures and
personal care
- confidentiality of medical
records
- occupational health and
safety policies and
safeguards
- code of ethics
- conflict of interest
First Nations
transferred communities
have developed personnel
policies as part of their
community health plan. Gather
examples of personnel policies
from a transferred community.
Sample
personnel policies
are attached as
Appendix B.
Liability and malpractice insurance needs to be in place and
appropriate to cover the employer and its staff who will be
delivering services under the new program.
Once you have decided on the staff you will require
(refer to Handbook 3A and your Service Delivery Plan),
develop a detailed job description including the
educational and experience requirements of the
job, and a performance appraisal format for each
position. Again, gather work descriptions from
other agencies, First Nations/Inuit communities
that are delivering similar services. Review
them to see what aspects are appropriate and
adapt as necessary.
Sample
job descriptions
and performance
appraisal forms are
attached as Appendix C.
A good recruitment, selection and orientation process for staff
ensures that you can deliver high quality services to your
community members.
Establishing client records and service tools before program
delivery occurs is critical. They will provide the necessary
supports to care providers to effectively carry out their work,
they will document necessary information about each client and
their needs, they will ensure proper and ongoing care to the
client, and they will serve as a source of information for
program monitoring and reporting.
You will want to make sure that the client records and service
tools you develop are user friendly, culturally appropriate,
respond to the needs of your community, and where there are
strong links with provincial/territorial services that your client
records and tools are "compatible".
The following are examples of basic client records and tools
that may be part of a Home and Community Care Program:
- request for service
- home care admission form
- continuation sheet/narrative
- client assessment tool
- medication record
- home care plan or home care contract
- task list
- physician's order
- procedures flow sheet
- home health aide monthly record
- screening tool for priority care
- home care body picture
- nursing database for client assessment
- discharge summary sheet
A sample client
record file is attached
as Appendix D.
During the client assessment review, you will want to make
sure that the form you use to assess the individual's service
needs takes into account his or her physical, mental, emotional
and spiritual health. All of these aspects come into play when
determining what home and community care services will best
support that person.
The form should be set up to encourage a relaxed conversation
between the home care nurse or assessor and the individual
who is requesting service and their informal caregiver. It will be
on the basis of this information that you collect that the home
care nurse, the home care coordinator and the rest of the
health and social services team develop a plan for care which
includes the types of services and their frequency. The plan for
care is discussed with the individual and is revised as
necessary before it is put into practice. The nurse
and/or home care coordinator review the plan
with the client from time to time. Together, they
make whatever changes may be necessary, in
consultation with other staff who are part of the
health social service team.
Sample client
assessment tools
and care plans are
attached as Appendix E.
Your Service Delivery Plan described how the roles and
responsibilities between the home care nurse and community
nursing (health centre/nursing station) functions, and the adult
care workers/home health aides and community health
representatives functions will differ. Identify the tasks needed
to formalize the roles and responsibilities and any changes or
adjustments that may need to be made.
Your Service Delivery Plan outlined a process for establishing
client referrals and linkages to other services, programs, care
providers and agencies and funding linkages to other programs
and services. It is important to make sure linkages are properly
established and defined in order to make the best use of your
program resources and services and ultimately provide the best
care to your community members. Identify the tasks that need
to be carried out to make the linkages happen.
In your workplan, identify all the tasks that need to be done to
establish your data collection system and set up your program
monitoring system, who will carry out the work, associated
costs (if applicable), and timelines to complete the work.
In your workplan, identify all the tasks that need to
be done to obtain medical equipment and
supplies on an ongoing and as needed basis,
who will carry out the work, associated costs
(if applicable), and timelines to complete the
work.
Sample
statistical data
collection tools are
attached as Appendix F.
Once your workplan is established, identify a process for monitoring its progress and for adjusting timelines if necessary. Some suggestions might be to set up weekly or monthly meetings with the planning team to report on the status of
each task. Another suggestion is to assign one person to keep track of all assigned tasks and progress against them. Your management structure will also need to be kept up to date and may require something more formal like a written progress report. The reporting requirements against the contribution agreement/integrated agreement will also dictate how often and the method of reporting on progress to the funding agency.
In addition to monitoring and reporting the progress against program activities, you will also need to monitor and report the financial activities of the program and spending forecasts for each plan. Again, identify a process for doing this. Review the reporting requirements against the contribution agreement/integrated agreement to ensure you take into account the requirements of the funding agency.
Remember to keep community members informed about the progress of your activities and budget so they are aware and understand what needs to occur before service delivery happens. This will help to manage service delivery
expectations.
All the best for a successful program!
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