Articles Posted in Staff Shortages

The arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic has combined with other economic factors to cause an employment shortage in hundreds of industries worldwide. Healthcare is most likely the hardest-hit industry by Covid-19 related staffing shortages. Within the healthcare industry, nursing homes and long-term elder-care facilities suffer from some of the worst staffing shortages on record. Understaffed nursing homes and long-term care facilities result in increased instances of abuse, neglect, and even sometimes-fatal medical malpractice. In an effort to address the chronic nationwide staffing shortages in nursing homes, the U.S. Federal Government has announced plans to enforce national minimum staffing guidelines for nursing homes and other similarly situated facilities.

According to a recently aired national public radio broadcast, the staffing shortages at several nursing homes have become a dangerous problem. The increased risks and workloads presented by the pandemic have made nursing home jobs less desirable. Employers nationwide, including nursing home administrators, are reluctant to increase employee compensation out of a fear that paying more will cut into the companies’ profits. In response to the shortages, the Biden administration has initiated plans to use the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to implement minimum staffing requirements to ensure that the staff is adequate to ensure quality. According to the report, the changes should go into effect within a year.

How Does the Nursing Home Staffing Shortage Impact Residents?

Nursing home residents and their families have the right to adequate care that meets industry standards for such care. The staffing shortages over the last two years have resulted in increasing instances of concern in nursing homes nationwide. Observers have noted increases in bedsores, excessive weight loss, high rates of Covid-19 infection, as well as widespread overprescription of antipsychotic medications to control resident behavior. Residents who have received these types of substandard care, or suffered other acts of neglect, abuse, or malpractice, may be entitled to financial damages for their loss and suffering. A qualified Maryland, D.C., and Virginia area medical malpractice attorney can help victims pursue a case for damages.

If you have decided to send your loved one to a Maryland nursing home in the near future or have already done so, then you understand the difficulty of making such a decision. Conducting thorough research into the options near you and ensuring that your loved ones are receiving quality care at the facility you choose can be really stressful—especially if there is no information available for you to reference to make an informed decision.

According to a recent report, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it would begin to report weekend staffing and staff turnover for nursing homes with greater transparency. Information on weekend staffing, such as the numbers of registered nurses and the total number of nurses in general working on the weekends at each nursing home over a quarter will be publicly available on a website. Details about total nurse turnover, the percentage of nursing staff that stopped working at a nursing home, and the number of administrators who stopped working at a nursing home over a 12 month period will also be made available.

For consumers, this data will be important for a number of reasons. First, having access to a nursing home’s staffing environment can be important for determining the quality of care your loved ones will receive. At facilities with low turnover rates, for example, it is more likely that the quality of care will be higher, and the overall residential experience will be better. Low turnover rates in nursing homes are also typically correlated to higher nursing home ratings.