Tranquility Superabsorbent Products: A Remedy for Rampant Caregiver Staff Turnover

July 11, 2023

By Josef Halcomb

Reading this title, you are probably wondering, what in the world do incontinence products have to do with caregiver staffing? Let me explain.   

As a Tranquility Clinical Solutions Consultant for over a decade, I work with many caregiving professional communities, including Long-Term and Skilled Senior Care, Veterans’ care facilities and more. I know their challenges are great; however, I also know that these challenges are not new – including a main pain point: staffing shortages. 

Care provider organizations are working harder than ever to find creative ways to recruit and retain employees. Inconsistency of staff (and resulting effect on quality of care) creates an unstable environment that is very costly and stresses out leadership, staff, patients and their families. Although there are various causes of roster turnover, a 2022 study published in the Journal of Gerontological Nursing identified physical and mental stress as a primary catalyst. 

We’re learning more about specific causes of stress on organizations – particularly in LTC environments – and one area that came to light in this study is incontinence care. According to the study, a national U.S. nursing homes database indicates that at least 70.3% of residents are not in complete control of their bladders. Furthermore, the study cites a survey of 71 Directors of Nursing at LTC communities with at least 100 beds, which found that: 

• 59.2% reported managing urinary incontinence is a major or significant cause of staff turnover 

• Caregiving professionals changed an average of 36.6 incontinence products, per shift 
• Staff also performed 1.7 bed changes due to wetting accidents, per shift 
• Approximately 36% of resident falls occurred while trying to get to the bathroom 
   

The bottom line from these findings: Staff are simply “burned out,” and incontinence care plays a large role in that. Being so closely tied to the incontinence care industry, I’ve been hearing this for years! 

In fact, one senior care organization I work with nicknamed their direct patient caregivers “Clinical Athletes” due to the physical strength, endurance and perseverance it takes to perform incontinence product changes and other repetitive tasks each day. 

Here’s the good news. 

This same organization was able to significantly reduce the labor burden of incontinence care for its staff  – simply by switching to Tranquility. Our Tranquility products trial at this community prolonged wear times and kept residents’ skin drier, longer, producing documented results: 

• Decreased the number of brief changes per resident, per shift (especially during the night)  
• Decreased the number of bedding and clothing changes due to leakage 

How significant is this?  

Going back to the survey cited above, the staff’s incontinence product changes took an average of 12 minutes, so they were spending more than half of their shift time on this unfulfilling task alone. Add this to the time required for related bedding and/or clothing changes, and you can see how reducing the number of product changes per shift could re-energize employees and give them the gift of more quality time to spend with those in their care. 

Plus – there’s no doubt that residents became more satisfied (and less agitated) with fewer product, linen and clothing changes, along with reduced risk of skin-related health issues.   

The bottom line is, Tranquility Products can be a real game-changer for caregiving professionals by lightening their workload, which in turn helps to improve staff satisfaction and morale, all while helping to improve resident outcomes. 

If you are looking to deliver a much-needed remedy to rampant turnover in your organization, contact me at 1-567-213-1160 or jborcherdt@pbenet.com and let’s talk! 

Judy Borcherdt 

A nurse in the healthcare sector for over 35 years, Judy has worked with Tranquility for the last decade as a Clinical Solutions Consultant. She has worked with Veterans Affairs and Aging Services organizations across the U.S., including Skilled Nursing, Long-Term Care, Assisted Living, Home Care and Acute Care. She emphasizes improving clinical outcomes and positively impacting the quality of life for not only residents, clients and patients, but also their caregiving professionals. 

For more information or questions about this article, please call 1-567-213-1160 or email jborcherdt@pbenet.com.