The Super User enters the organisation’s ‘Staff Grades’ by selecting this option under ‘System Administration’:
These grades are set for the whole organisation, and must only be changed with consultation and great care!
Staff grades are entered by clicking on the ‘Add Staff Grade’ button. Up to five grades can be added, each with a separate skill percentage. For example, for a registered nurse (RN) in a nursing home the skill percentage will be 100%, i.e. all of their hours count towards the total skilled hours. Similarly, for a senior care worker (SCW) in a residential home the skill percentage will be 100%.
Carers are given a level of 0% as they form the core staff within a home and do not count towards the skill percentage. This is in no way a suggestion that carers do not have skills; quite the reverse is true! The percentage is simply an expression of the additional skills and responsibility more senior staff have.
The approach that DepenSys takes enables homes to more closely reflect the additional skills that some staff bring to the residents’ care. It is common for some carers in a residential home to undertake the administration of medicines; in the example above there is a ‘medicator’ role which is a carer with additional training / competency assessment. It is also becoming more frequent in nursing homes for senior carers and others working in support of nurses to administer medicines.