Murray Ridge Center employees are required to meet and maintain the professional education, continuing education and/or experience required for the position and maintain proper state certifications, licenses and registrations.
DODD Certification
Our Program Specialists and Vocational Placement Specialists hold Bachelor’s degrees and are required to be Certified with the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD).
Our Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Speech/Language Pathologists, and our Nursing staff, are required to maintain their continuing education, licenses and certifications.
Our Habilitation Managers all hold Bachelor’s Degrees. They are also Certified with the DODD. All of our Directors hold Master’s Degrees.
Direct Care Staff (Program Aides, Program Instructors, and Job Coaches) are required to have a high school diploma and be Certified with the DODD.
Orientation Program
All employees must complete 30 hours of Orientation prior to starting work with the day program. The Orientation program includes training in: agency mission, organization, legislative acts and history of DD, overview of Developmental Disabilities, behavior management and supports, Crisis Intervention Training (CPI), Universal Precautions, medical issues and conditions, delegated nursing task training, health and safety training, MUI and UI reporting procedures, client rights, abuse/neglect, communication, adaptive equipment and transferring, feeding and positioning.
Following the successful completion of the initial orientation, an additional six days of on-the-job orientation training is provided.
Annual and On-going Inservice Training
On-going Inservice Training Programs
- Each year, the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD) requires staff to complete 8 hours of inservice training that has been approved by the DODD.Murray Ridge Center ensures that this requirement is met by all staff.
- In addition, the DODD and Murray Ridge Adult Services require mandatory Annual Training in Communicable and Infection Diseases and Universal Precautions, Incident and Major Unusual Incident Report Training, First Aid and CPR, and Drug Free Workplace.
- Each of our facilities has an RN and an LPN present at all times.Our nursing staff provide medical treatments and administration of medications as prescribed by the order of a physician.To insure the Health and Safety of our program participants, our Nursing Department provides direct care staff with individualized Nursing Delegation Training (specific to the participant) in the areas of medication administration, tube feeding, and any other medical related tasks deemed delegable by the nurse in the facility.In order to receive delegation from a nurse, staff must take educational courses and maintain the relevant DODD Medication Administration Certification.
Our nurses also provide annual training for all staff in the use of Vagal Nerve Stimulator, EPI pen, latex allergies, infection control, Influenza, First Aid and CPR training, AED use, TB testing, Hepatitis and other communicable diseases.
Our therapists provide our direct care staff with individualized training in areas that further enhance the quality of services to our consumers:
- Our Occupational Therapist provides annual training and ongoing consultation on the use of mechanical lifts and slings,sensory processing, upper body range of motion, splints, braces, and other adaptive equipment.We provide assistance and training in ambulation and the Mobility Opportunities via Education (MOVE) program.
- Our Physical Therapist provides individualized training for positioning, lower body range of motion, ambulation, splints, braces, and other adaptive equipment.
- Our Speech/Language Pathologist provides annual training on feeding, swallowing, food consistencies, and the use of adaptive communication devices and other communication equipment. Communication programs are frequently developed by the therapist for implementation by Direct Care Staff.
Murray Ridge Adult Services also provides annual training in the following areas:
Facility Emergency Procedures, Crisis Prevention Intervention Refresher CPI, Abuse Violence Education Recognition Training (AVERT), Safety in the Workplace, Fire Suppression, (MSDS), and Customer Satisfaction.
Our inservice topics will continue to grow based on the needs of the people we serve.