For much of the nursing home’s modern times, administrator departures have been tied to fairly specific causes: retirement, regulatory stress, burnout after carrying so much burden during the pandemic. 

But with federal data showing that administrator turnover now hovers around 100% — meaning most are leaving before they finish a year in a new role — Mark Prifogle insists many more are leaving for “arbitrary” reasons that operators need to better understand, anticipate and combat.

Lately, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to our profession, post-acute and aging services, and began to wonder if anything we do matters.

With all the challenges from regulators, attorneys, payers, and the press, why do we do it? Not WHAT we do, or even HOW we do it, but WHY? Simon Sinek wrote an entire book on the topic, entitled, Start with Why, and spoke on it in a widely viewed TED Talk several years ago (use this link to view the original “Start with WHY” talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPYeCltXpxw).

As a blossoming leader in long-term care with a specific mission, vision and value for what I want to create for the consumers I serve, my support system is an integral part of developing and enhancing those values and that vision.

The American College of Healthcare Administrators (ACHCA) has been instrumental in the development of my mission and vision for long term care. As a student of St. Joseph’s College of Maine’s Long Term Care Administration program, I was introduced to ACHCA at the beginning of my capstone project. My professor, Philip DuBois, had strongly encouraged my membership as a not merely important part of my education, but a mission critical step in developing myself as a leader within a network of other administrators that share my values and pursuit of excellence in this particular field.