STAFF TRAINING AND TURNOVER IN ALZHEIMER SPECIAL CARE UNITS - COMPARISONS WITH NONSPECIAL CARE UNITS - MORE DEMENTIA-SPECIFIC TRAINING RESOURCES SHOULD BE MADE AVAILABLE TO ALL STAFF TO IMPROVE TRAINING EFFECTIVENESS AND REDUCE TURNOVER

Nursing facility staff may not be properly trained to deal with behavi oral symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. We collected data about speciali zed dementia training and turnover among licensed nurses and nursing a ssistants in 400 nursing units in 124 Minnesota nursing facilities. St aff training may affect the retention of paraprofessional and professi onal nursing staff A diversity of training methods, including workshop s or seminars, films or videos, outside consultants, reading materials , training manuals, in-house experts, role playing techniques, or an o rientation program for new staff might be used to develop more effecti ve training programs and reduce rates of nursing assistant turnover.