Due to the rapidly aging population of the United States, the demand for home health and personal care aides keeps growing year after year. Now, due to the long-lasting effects of the pandemic, the caregiver shortage is reaching crisis levels in the state of Washington.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for caregiving positions is projected to grow by 25% over the next decade, and over 700,000 positions are expected to become available every year.
If you’re thinking of starting a career in this industry, you may be wondering exactly where to begin. The good news is you don’t need to have an advanced medical degree, extensive education, or previous experience to get you on the new career path.
Instead, we recommend that you start by reading some of the highest-rated and bestselling books about the long-term care industry. These books will be helpful not only to novice caregivers but also to everyone already working in this field.
We will include links to these books, where you can purchase and/or rent them in various editions and formats, including used and second-hand copies. (A helpful hint: an older edition of a book can be cheaper while still offering most of the important information you will need.)
However, you can also look for these books in your local public library and request them online or from your librarian if they are not currently available.
So, here are the books everyone in long-term care industry should read:
Understanding the Basics for Nursing Home Administrators: A Guide to Success in Every Department by Tim R. Burningham
If you're looking for books for long-term care professionals that explain the industry basics and keys to success, this is the perfect choice. The author is a seasoned and highly accomplished nursing home administrator and thus has knowledge of the daily struggles of the job. He offers numerous tips to help you understand every aspect of this industry, deal with its challenges, manage your employees, and be of service to your clients.
This book is for all nursing home administrators, those interested in becoming nursing home administrators, or anyone interested in the skilled nursing industry. It can help you hone your craft, improve your skills, and run a successful nursing facility.
You can buy this book in paperback or Kindle editions, or you can read it for free through a Kindle Unlimited subscription.
Hartman's Nursing Assistant Care: Long-Term Care and Home Health, by Susan Alvare Hedman, Jetta Fuzy, and Suzanne Rymer
Hartman’s Nursing Assistant Care is a must-read among books for long-term care professionals, offering comprehensive training and guidance. It emphasizes person-centered care, provides information on resident and client rights, and teaches ways to promote independence and prevent client abuse and neglect.
This book addresses infection prevention, nutrition information, including special diets and feeding techniques, home health care, especially regarding medications, safety, mothers and newborns, meal planning and preparation, and subacute and acute care, including preoperative and postoperative care. It also includes expanded testing sections.
Please note that this book is only available in paperback, but you should be able to get a used copy fairly cheaply.
Essentials of Managed Health Care by Peter R. Kongstvedt
This book is particularly useful as a concise, clearly, and accessible introduction to the extremely complex workings of health insurance and managed care in the American health care system. It helps readers better understand the industry's organizational structures, concepts, and practices.
Some of the topics include the ever-expanding and evolving payment systems and methodologies used in the U.S. healthcare system, the current status of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medicare Part D, the complexities of Medicare Advantage payment plans, Medicaid expansion under the ACA, and more.
This book is available in paperback and Kindle editions.
Community & Public Health Nursing: Evidence for Practice by Rosanna DeMarco and Judith Healey-Walsh
DeMarco and Healey-Walsh introduce public health concepts from an evidence-based perspective, allowing students to connect data to practice decisions. Through case studies, exercises, and examples throughout the highly illustrated text, they help students develop abstract critical thinking skills and complex reasoning abilities.
The authors use evidence from epidemiology and other sources that will help students make public health practice decisions and plan the care of individuals, families, and groups in the community. They also include timely topics such as preventative immunizations, the opioid epidemic, veterans and LBGQ as underserved populations, cultural diversity, health disparities, globalism, and many others.
This book is available in paperback and Kindle editions, and you can also rent it as an e-textbook for a period of your choosing.
Effective Management of Long-Term Care Facilities by Douglas A. Singh
For those seeking books for long-term care professionals, this guide is especially valuable for aspiring facility managers. In it, you will find in-depth information on the complex operations of long-term care facilities, as well as the skills and tools required for current and future long-term care administrators to create a person-centered environment and deliver high-quality yet cost-effective services.
This book covers topics such as an overview of the organization and delivery of the long-term care system and a detailed exploration of its laws, regulations, and financing; the essentials of effective business management within the long-term care environment; research findings and data, as well as coverage of the ACA in regard to long-term care; and real-world case studies for further discussion and analysis.
You can get this book as a paperback or a Kindle edition.
Having read some (or all) of these books, your next step will be to check out Cornerstone Healthcare Training, which offers a variety of general and specialty training courses approved by the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. You can complete these courses 100% online at your own pace and convenience before embarking on your new career path that is guaranteed to keep you gainfully employed for years to come.
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