POSITION SUMMARY

The Assisted Living Operator facilitates a self-led team caring for 38 assisted living apartments, ensures compliance within the allocated budgets, and emphasizes a high quality of care through appropriate staffing models, and increased involvement of daily life activities within the household. The Assisted Living Operator also leads housekeeping, laundry, nutritional, and the social and recreational services directly affecting the residents’ environment, assuring that the household is maintained in a clean, safe, comfortable, and orderly manner. Such leadership must be in accordance with current federal, state, and local standards, guidelines, and regulations that govern our facility to ensure that the highest degree of quality care is maintained at all times. The Assisted Living Operator leads by example, maintaining a professional work relationship with the household team and residents, and remains knowledgeable of residents’ responsibilities and rights, including the right to determine their own preferences.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

• Facilitates and leads the household team while supporting a self-led team.
• Facilitates healthy relationships within the household and rest of organization; serves as a resource to team members, families, and residents alike while being a resource to other households and service areas.
• Leads household within the allocated budget (billing processes, payroll variance reports, expense and revenue budgets).
• Ensures proper household team education and competencies, (in-services, trainings, care tracker, home free, culture, and guide positions) as well as ensures policies, procedures and operations in the household are followed in compliance according to federal, state, local, and Meadowlark Hills regulations.
• Maintains a high quality of care through appropriate team models (self-scheduling, staff retention and development).
• Performs leadership responsibilities including but not limited to: planning, delegating, and directing work. Coaches, teaches, and trains household team members. Addresses complaints and resolves concerns. Participates in team problem solving methods, and mediates conflict resolutions concerning household team members, residents, and family members as needed.
• Conducts performance evaluations, providing timely feedback through coaching and counseling, celebrating individual and team success.
• Maintains working relationships and promotes residents’ well-being, and advocates for resident and family preferences through clear and effective communication.
• Observes the status of residents as necessary, recognizes early signs of changing conditions, and alerts clinical team members immediately.
• Maintains a safe, comfortable, and functional home environment by assessing the household for potential hazards, encouraging continuous quality improvement.
• Supports representation of household team on all appropriate councils, including sending a representative when unavailable themselves, investigates andreports all incidents and accidents, observes the team for safe work habits, and addresses needs and concerns.
• Responsible for all clinical leadership, clinical outcomes and functions in the household. Guides the care planning process ensuring all residents’ needs and preferences are addressed in his/her plan of care.
• Maintains confidentiality and upholds the Nurse Practice Act while making critical decisions.
• Answers all resident, guest, and family questions appropriately and timely.
• Ensures the household team is providing medical treatment in a manner that honors resident preferences and individuality. Ensures all resident rights are upheld, including the choice of when and how medications are administered.
• Provides knowledge and skills to team members in all households related to clinical areas and leadership. Nurtures and grows employees in multiple households to a professional expertise.
• Assures that the households have the needed resources (community links, materials, supplies, skills and knowledge) to be successful.
• Assures that all documentation, medication administration, nursing care, safety, sanitation, team development, materials management, and resident rights are in compliance with Meadowlark Hills’ standards.
• Guides household clinical team to ensure proper hiring, orientation, training, clinical competency, coaching, educating, counseling and performance evaluations are maintained in a manner supportive of team and professional standards of practice, while providing productive feedback.
• Assures regulatory compliance by encouraging appropriate record keeping and charting in all households and by maintaining appropriate files to document compliance in specific areas of clinical accountability.
• Guides the clinical component of continuous quality improvement in the household with support of a systemic approach to quality care. Ensures that all households participate in quality improvement measurements, addressing issues and concerns, and following up in a timely manner.
• Performs professional audits and observations to confirm the competency of all household guides and household team members.
• Encourages all household team members to support organizational fiscal responsibility through efficient and effective use of all resources in the household, including maintaining clinical staffing and supply budgets within planned expenditures.
• Fosters collaboration, consensus, and negotiation to address problem solving in the household.
• Assures that all clinical policies and procedures of the household are maintained. Interprets and communicates objectives to all in the household as needed, with an emphasis on resident and family relationships.
• Supports meeting all resident and household needs by actively assisting (to the extent of cross training and certification) in all tasks to meet identified needs. Able to embrace individualized methods if best suited for resident needs.
• Serves as Weekend and Holiday Resource as needed.
• Demonstrate to all household team members, residents, and family that the organization is committed to the creation of the pleasures and daily life expected of home. Understands that quality care is enhanced with quality of life in the household.
• Sees leadership of the household team as a role of service, rather than one of authority. Seeks to support team member’s ability to succeed. Willing to do any tasks needed, including those that may seem menial or unpleasant. Advocates for resident preferences when communicating with physician or other medical personnel.
• Oversee residents’ changing medical needs and able to act swiftly without regard to amount of time or effort it will require. Recognizes early signs of changing conditions and uses all available and appropriate resources to resolve needs.
• Uses confidentiality and proper chain of command when passing along information, changes, or concerns of residents.
• Personally responsible and held accountable for following Meadowlark Hills’ mission and values while maintaining and living out our philosophy of person centered care –person first.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS (continued)

• Uses confidentiality and proper chain of command when passing along information, changes, or concerns of residents.
• Personally responsible and held accountable for following Meadowlark Hills’ mission and values while maintaining and living out our philosophy of person centered care - person first.

ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Responsible for performing other duties as assigned.
• Supports each other in meeting all job requirements, actively participates in being a learning and teaching organization.  Willingness to continue to learn and seek improvement.
• Attends in-service training programs.
• Train other nurses according to the essential job functions.
• Attends in-service training programs.
• Supports each other in meeting all job requirements, provides timely feedback, and actively participates in being a learning and teaching organization. Willingness to continue to learn and seek improvement.
• Responsible for staying abreast of current laws, regulations, policies, procedures and best practices and adapting to company and industry changes.

This document in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee occupying this position. The Assistant Living Operator is required to follow any other instructions and perform other assigned duties.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements below are representative of the qualifications, knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions/responsibilities.

Experience:  Minimum four (4) years of similar experience and/or education preferred. The Assisted Living Operator is expected to have acquired the necessary knowledge and skills to perform the job satisfactorily in accordance with current standards, guidelines and regulations of Meadowlark Hills.

Education: Required RN license. Four (4) year Degree or equivalent experience preferred.

Personal Skills:

• Demonstrates personal integrity when working effectively with residents, families, team members, and support agencies.
• The Assisted Living Operator must have strong leadership, initiative, coaching, facilitation, communication, and team building skills. 
• Flexibility and patience are needed to multi-task, prioritize, and adjust to changing situations of residents.
• Requires the ability to provide clear directions and expectations, while coaching and offering effective feedback.
• Accurate, detailed, and dependable, with a commitment to the highest quality of standards.
• The Assisted Living Operator must be a certified driver at Meadowlark Hills if eligible.

Supervision:  This position directly leads the household team: clinical care team, CNAs, CMAs, housekeeping, homemakers, life enhancement, etc. This position also works under the leadership of the Health Services Administrator.

Financial Accountability:  Responsible for making optimal use of all resources including time, while respecting residents and Meadowlark Hill’s property.

Working Environment: The Assisted Living Operator functions independently, has flexibility, and demonstrates personal integrity when working effectively with residents, families, the household team, and support agencies. The Household Coordinator may be in close contact with individuals who have infectious diseases and may be subject to the handling of harmful chemicals, infectious waste, unhygienic conditions, and potentially hazardous compounds, solutions, supplies, and equipment. The Assisted Living Operator must observe rigid, standardized guidelines to guard against disease, accidents, and other dangers, wearing protective gear when needed.  The Assisted Living Operator is often subject to stressful, uncomfortable, and emotional situations/individuals. An Assisted Living Operator primarily works in a climate control setting.

Physical Demands:  The Assisted Living Operator position requires physical activity and moderate movement throughout the workday in order to perform daily duties. Requires the ability to stand, walk, push, pull, carry, move, bend, kneel, squat, reach, stretch, and lift a minimum of 50 lbs. The Household Coordinator must use universal precautions in all situations. In the event there is a need to evacuate the building, heavy lifting may be required to carry residents to safety. Must be able to operate office equipment (phone, computer, printer, copier, fax machine, etc), and various equipment and mobility devices (wheelchair, walker, gait belt, mechanical lift, etc) used by/for residents. These operations must be performed with normal visual range, acuity, color determination, and the ability to distinguish letters and numbers. Good oral communication skills, the ability to speak clearly, and the ability to listen attentively with appropriate hearing acuity is required.

Work Hours:  Residents and guests require 24-hour a day care; so the ability to work nights, weekends and holidays is required. Primary work hours are varying and subject to change depending upon the needs of residents and the household team. The Assisted Living Operator is on an on-call rotation and subject to emergency call outs on short notice. Adjustments to the schedule are made to accommodate these demands when necessary.