The COVID pandemic has brought tremendous attention to the workforce challenges in post-acute and long-term care. A new report suggests some important changes that need to be made to ensure consistent, capable staffing and safe, successful communities moving forward:
- A federal minimum wage for nursing home workers. In at least one study, increased wages among nursing assistants resulted in 21% lower turnover.
- Federal minimum staffing levels. A congressional report found that incremental increases in staff resulted in improved quality of patient care. Another study found that staffing levels have a “large and significant” impact on care quality.
- End the federally mandated lock-out period. In 2017 alone, these prevented nearly 2,900 individuals from starting CNA training programs.
