Elderwood nurse completes assisted living leadership program

The New York State Center for Assisted Living announced 12 nurses from Western New York-area assisted living facilities completed the Foundation for Quality Care's first-ever assisted living nurse leadership program. This innovative program was designed to enhance the quality of care and quality of life for residents and staff through the development of the nurse's leadership skills.

One of those nurses was Christine O'Connor, a resident care manager at Elderwood Assisted Living at Wheatfield.

The assisted living nurse leadership program is part of the Long Term Care Leadership Institute, which was developed by the Foundation for Quality Care, a non-profit research and educational foundation affiliated with the New York State Center for Assisted Living. The course covered key topics, including effective communication, conflict management and resolution, coach and mentoring skills and person-centered care. The program was funded through an educational grant received from the NYS Department of Health and the NYS Department of Labor Health Workforce Retraining Initiative.

"NYSCAL is pleased to be the first in the state to offer a specialized training program for assisted living nurses," said Shelley Sabo, executive director at the New York State Center for Assisted Living. "This ground-breaking program will provide tools and resources for the assisted living nurse in our communities to build upon their current strengths and experiences."

She added, "We are proud to be able to advance nurse leadership in the state of New York by providing dedicated nurses with the leadership skills to support their residents, family members and staff so that their facilities will achieve greater success and high levels of customer satisfaction."