My Internship Experience at Providence Rest Nursing Home

My Internship Experience at Providence Rest Nursing Home

Introduction

Internship provides a practical ground for the practice of a profession. My internship at Providence Rest Nursing home gave me an opportunity to realize that my career is really interesting. I had the pleasure of working at Providence Rest Nursing home from November 30, 2009 through February 11, 2010. To begin with, I must acknowledge that Providence Rest Nursing home is such a wonderful for every person either as a worker or as a resident. In this paper, I am going to talk about my internship at Providence Rest Nursing home and the experience I gained in the field of Human Resource Management.

Providence Rest Nursing home is a well-organized facility with clearly defined mission statement and values. Its mission is to minister with respect and dignity, to each individual entrusted to them by providing the highest quality of care in a peace-filled, safe and secure environment. The home considers it their privilege to care for every individual as God’s precious gift of life and love. The home has its values, which it upholds genuinely. They include valuing and respecting human life, becoming a kindhearted family, committing to highest care quality, and celebrating life as a gift from God (Providence Rest, 2008). The mission statement and the values serve the interest of every individual and I was very happy to realize that the home lives to its mission statement in a generous and passionate manner.

Providence Rest Nursing home started humbly in 1921 and it was known as Little House of Divine Providence. It was a home for aging women in the state of New York a place called White Plains. Ever since that time, the home has grown and undergone through modifications to accommodate the rising needs of the society. Currently, Providence Rest Nursing home is located on an eight acres land, within a residential community in Country Club in the Bronx. The facility has two-hundred beds that serve both men and women. This home is owned by Sisters of St. John the Baptist and they are the ones who operate it diligently to offer services to clients with the aim of improving their quality of life (Providence Rest, 2008).

The home offers a wide range of services to its clients. They include short-term therapy and transition care and outpatient rehabilitation. It also offers a program in massage therapy. It offers adult day heath care, respite care, accreditation, childcare, hospice, and long-term care. In addition to these, the Sisters are the sponsors of a Child Day Care Learning Center that gives high quality child care and education for twenty-two children aged between three and five years old together with interaction and improvement of the aged occupants. This program is a strong learning instrument for the creation of relationships and understanding among generations. This is because the facility has given a chance for both the young and the old to grow together. This home is a Medicare certified facility accredited by JCAHCO (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations). It is therefore recognized and has several clients from different parts of the country (Providence Rest, 2008).

To deal with the diverse needs of the residents of this home, the Sisters have collaborated with both the church and the local government to expand its building. For instance, on October 30, 2007, the collaboration built a new building with a capacity of 120 beds. The project also aims at completing three phases, renovating and modernizing the facility using $40 million. The construction is still going on and Phase II, which is a renovation of a section called Pope Pavilion. Completing this section will result in housing of eighty individuals and most of them are likely to have private rooms. The final Phase will lead to the transformation of the oldest part of the home called Generoso Pope Memorial building from a residential section to an amenity area that will include gift shop, café, beauty parlor and administration offices (Providence Rest, 2008).

Therefore, Providence Rest Nursing home is a well-established facility intending to serve all people with love. I enjoyed every moment I stayed at this home because of many reasons. I realized that every individual in the home was satisfied with the services received from all workers in the home. In fact, most people preferred never to go back to their family homes because of the tender care and service they receive from the home’s employee. I could go the residents to chat with them and ask them some questions concerning the quality of care they received. I also asked them to suggest some of the changes they needed in the home. Fortunately, every person I talked to, smiled and told me told me that everything was excellent. I remember one resident saying that those who handled them understood them well and they had no emotional discomfort. This place is a home for them and not just an institution. They do not know any other better place than Providence Rest Nursing home.

My internship came at very interesting time. It was a holiday season and going to this relaxed environment made me a happy person always. I remember particularly the Christmas holiday, which I spent at this home and I really enjoyed myself. It was a real home to me and I never regretted missing celebrations at our family’s home. Thus, I let myself to enjoy all the pleasing moments I spend with the people of this home. I cannot forget the events that took place especially on the Christmas holiday. The home changed into a winter holiday and everybody enjoyed it. I cannot forget the operations manager Anthony who decorated the whole place using very beautiful lights trees, and ornaments. The place was very exciting and with the voices of children playing, it gave me a glimpse of paradise. At the same time, the memory of the Activities Administrator Joanne cannot get out of my mind. Joanne provided many wonderful and interesting activities with a lot of entertainment. I remember Joanne inviting performing artists who came and entertained all of us who were there at the home. Drama was held and we could all laugh until tears came out of my eyes.

There is one old lady I held a conversation with. This lady was really happy at that moment and she told me that the home has always been a blessing to her for the last three years she had spent there. Her name is Regina. Regina was seventy-eight years old but she astonished me with her super memory. She remembered some verses from the bible and quoted them correctly, as they are as we continued to chat. Regina told me about her life as a youth and what she loved doing. She told me that she loved athletics and had won several medals and other prizes. She told me how her parents separated when she was sixteen years old and how she was tempted to become a prostitute in order to get money but she did not yield. Her hope of having a brighter future made her to succeed. She later went to school when her church sponsored her and there she started to exploit her talent in athletics. She left me with three words: never lose hope.

During my internship, I was given an opportunity to work in the Human Resources department. Here, I worked as a Human Resource intern under the guidance of Yveline Morgan. Miss Morgan is qualified Human Resource manager because she holds a Masters Degree in Labor Relations from Columbia University. She has a long working experience of eighteen years in the filed of Human Resources. For the last three years, Miss Morgan has been working at Providence Rest Nursing home in the capacity of Human Resources director. She is a good manager and I am grateful for she delegated some duties to me. By doing that, she allowed me to learn effectively and understand what it entails to become a Human Resource manager. She is a kindhearted person and whenever I asked her for some help or explanations, she was ready to assist me genuinely. The duties she bestowed to me include training of employees in the In-service program, recruiting employees, labor relations, Human Resource policy interpretation, Disability, compensation Tracking, Performance management, benefits management, and finally Graph development and analysis.

My first project was to assist Yveline with new employees in-service. This in-service was meant to provide the employees information about Providence Rest Nursing home, its policy and procedures. The in-service also offered the new recruits with information concerning compensation and benefits. I helped the new employees to get oriented with the facility. Thus, I took them around the buildings and made them interact with the residents where they established rapport with one another. Among the things they learnt include their expected behavior within the facility, their duties, and how to interact with the residents. They leant a brief history of the facility including its mission and I encouraged them to be goal-oriented persons. I also learnt that they had diverse ideas from the way they talked with the residents. Therefore, I had an opportunity to handle and understand people of diverse ideas and different backgrounds. This is a very good quality of a human resource manager; hence, I hope to become an efficient manager in future.

In the recruitment of employees, Yveline gave me a chance to participate in four recruitment sessions. She was looking for nursing staff. These employees will be in contact with the residents. Therefore, the home needed people who are kind hearted, passionate and ready to serve with compassion. From this, I learnt several things including using my benefits to my advantage in recruiting employees. This meant that I could employ individuals ready to serve and bring positive impact to the facility. I also learnt that I should use my website for recruitment. This means that I allow applications online and state the minimum requirements to be met by the prospective employees. I also learnt on how to employ people efficiently and be respected as a great employer. In the process of recruitment and interviewing, I learnt the importance of asking technical questions to ascertain the employee’s ability to achieve set goals and the home’s objectives as a whole. Finally, I learnt that it is important to involve other employees in the process of recruiting others. This is important so that all employees will be willing to coordinate with each to work as a team. When employees participate in the recruitment of other employees, they are motivated to work hard for the home. This is due to the view that their ideas are respected and hence they are allowed to contribute to major decisions in the organization. In addition to this, involving other employees in recruitment process, gives an opportunity for employees to assist in going through the resumes to know the qualified people for recruitment.

Labor relations involve the associations of employees in the 1199SEIU Healthcare United Workers East. This organization represents more than three thousand members including those who have retired in New York, Maryland, Columbia District and Massachusetts. 1199SEIU remains the largest local union worldwide. The organization has a constitution that describes fully the structure of the union and their goals. Included in the constitution is that they are healthcare workers who serve in homecare, hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacies, and clinics among other health facilities. They care for the aged, sick, and the poor in health. Their work upholds dignity and they dedicate their time to patients, their members and their families (1199SEIU, 2010).

The mission of the union is to advance and develop quality care for patients and protect the lives of members as well as their families and to work in solidarity with other working persons in their society and around the world. In 1998, the union became an affiliate of the world’s largest labor union in North America. They joined SEIU, which has 1.8 million healthcare and building service workers and public workforce. From that time, the 15SEIU healthcare locals found all over New York, Maryland, Columbia District and Massachusetts have merged with 1199 and currently they are part of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East (1199SEIU, 2010). Therefore, I learnt that workers are well organized in a union that defends their interests hence they dedicate most of their time to work without fear of exploitation. This makes the facility more effective in service delivery.

In the interpretation of policies and procedures of the organization, I learnt their importance. The policies and procedures provide a link between the vision of an organization and its daily operations. A policy is specified strategy toward achieving organizational objectives. Procedure provides the plan to follow when implementing a policy. The importance of clearly defined policies and procedures enable the employees to have an understanding of their responsibilities within specified limits. They enable managers to direct operations without involvement. Policy thus connects with the vision and stipulates main actions to be done as well as guiding in decision making for problem solving. A clearly defined procedure eliminates misunderstanding by stating duties and limits to perform them. Therefore, policies and procedures guide people to be accountable for their actions. They are important in all organizations to deal with issues like health and safety, law issues, and other issues that have impacts on people.

As part of HR policy interpretation, I assisted Fire Warden James to facilitate a fire drill. Fire drill is necessary to establish how fast residents can evacuate the buildings in case of fire. It is done in this home once a year. The day we held a fire drill, I told James to inform all residents to get into their rooms. We first told them that it was a fire drill so that they could not panic. I then told James to switch on the alarm and record the time residents took to evacuate the buildings. After a short period of time, which we considered reasonable and safe to escape fire, I informed James to switch off the alarm and check the time taken. We found that all residents moved out of the building with the first sixteen minutes, which is safe. Therefore, incase of fire, no one is likely to perish.

Disability, Compensation, Time Tracking: Worked on analysis report

Performance Management: Worked on analysis report

In the benefits management, I was allowed to help a pregnant associate to fill her maternity leave form. This woman was entitled a six-week maternity leave with full salary payment. She had no complications related to pregnancy and therefore, this time was enough for her after which she will return to work as normal.

Graph Development and Analysis; Worked on analysis report.

Conclusion

My internship at Providence Rest Nursing home gave me a wonderful opportunity to gain experience as a HR intern. The home was a wonderful place both for workers and for the residents. I learnt important skills in employee training, recruitment, labor relations, HR policy interpretation, disability, compensation tracking, performance management, and benefits management. I also learnt other values like courtesy, compassion, and empathy, which will enable me to become a favorite Human Resource manager. It was really an important experience, which I will not forget in all my life.

 

References

Providence Rest. (2008). Providence Rest Nursing Home. Retrieved January 23, 2010 from http://www.providencerest.org/

1199SEIU. (2010). United Healthcare Workers East. Retrieved January 23, 2010 from http://www.1199seiu.org/about/