Consistent assignment in long-term care homes: Avoiding the pitfalls to capitalise on the promises

Consistent assignment (CA) is the practice within long-term care (LTC) by which care staff work with the same residents almost every shift for an indefinite period of time. CA is considered by many to be essential to person-centred care.

This paper explores how staff assignment practices impact the caregiving experience from the perspectives of resident care aides (RCAs), residents and family members and, by doing so, describe the nuanced conditions under which CA may or may not be beneficial to all, and why.

Data are drawn from 40 in-depth interviews conducted as part of a larger institutional ethnography exploring the social organisation of care in three purposively selected LTC homes in Western Canada. Data analysis was based on the principles of constant comparison.

RCAs, residents and family members described the primary benefit of CA as being able to 'get to know' each other well and form meaningful relationships. However, the RCAs also indicated that CA can contribute to feelings of isolation, which has negative effects on worker comfort and satisfaction, care team dynamics and communication, and resident care.

Management initiatives are needed to ensure that the implementation of CA does not result in the unintended consequences of decreasing RCAs' experience of teamwork, decreasing RCAs' exchange of individualised resident care information, or negatively impacting RCAs' ability and desire to care for each other as well as the residents.

The staffing practice of consistent assignment in long-term care homes provides increased opportunities for the development of stronger staff-resident and staff-family member relationships. Findings from this study enable us to offer several, evidenced-based recommendations for ensuring the successful implementation of consistent assignment, such that it may be beneficial to all.