CNA Mentoring Made Easy

Karl Pillemer, Ph.D. is the Hazel E. Reed Professor of Human Development at Cornell University and Professor of Gerontology in Medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical College. Since 1993, he has been Director of the Cornell Institute for Translational Research on Aging, a center devoted to using research to create interventions to improve the quality of life of older persons. For the past two decades, he has conducted a program of research involving staff in nursing homes and other long-term care environments. Projects have included a longitudinal study of relationships between family members of residents with staff in nursing homes, and the first scientific study of abuse of residents in long-term care. He has developed and evaluated a number of nursing home interventions, including model training, mentoring, and career ladder programs. These evidence-based interventions include "Partners in Caregiving," which builds cooperation and communication between nursing home staff and family members, and "Retention Specialist Program," which improves the ability of nursing homes to retain CNAs. He has written many scientific and trade articles on long-term care staffing, and is the author of the book "Solving the Frontline Crisis in Long-Term Care." Beyond the academic and professional community, Dr. Pillemer has created publications for frontline long-term care workers themselves, including the widely-used "The Nursing Assistant's Survival Guide." He is the founding editor of "Nursing Assistant Monthly," an educational newsletter that reaches thousands of nursing assistants nationwide. In addition, he has served as a consultant to long-term care providers, research groups, and trade organizations around the country and in Europe.