Addressing the Long-Term Care Staffing Shortage
The current labor shortage that affects long-term care facilities like nursing homes did not happen overnight. Since 2020, the number of employees working in long-term care facilities has decreased. Many factors have contributed to this decrease, including the residual stresses of the pandemic and low pay.
When a facility is not adequately staffed, residents’ health can be neglected as too few workers struggle to meet all residents’ needs. Employees, too, can suffer from exhaustion and burnout as they try to fulfill their duties without enough support.
To address this problem, a new federal mandate to set a minimum staffing standard for nursing homes and other facilities will go into effect by May 2026. Will it be the answer to the staffing crisis, or will this mandate make the situation worse for patients and employees alike?
Looking Closer at the Mandate
The new minimum staffing requirements would require a minimum of 3.48 nursing staff hours per resident day. A registered nurse would need to deliver 0.55 hours of this total, and nurse aides would need to deliver 2.45 hours.
The remaining 0.48 hours could be delivered by various professionals, including nurse aides, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, or licensed vocational nurses.
In addition, the mandate would require facilities to have a registered nurse on-site at all times.
Can Facilities Meet These New Requirements?
The American Health Care Association (AHCA) and the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) indicate that only 6% of nursing homes in America currently meet all new staffing requirements. The remaining 94% would need to either reduce the number of patients they serve or increase their staffing levels.
The better option seems to be an increase in hiring at nursing homes. However, the AHCA and the NCAL suggest that bringing all 14,000-plus nursing homes into compliance would require these facilities to hire over 100,000 new staff, including over 23,000 registered nurses. The total cost for this endeavor would be approximately $6.5 billion.
With the existing staffing shortage and the challenges of working in an understaffed long-term facility, requiring homes to meet this mandate seems like a herculean task. If a nursing home cannot meet the new standard, it may have no choice but to reduce the number of residents in its care.
Due to this effect, the AHCA and NCAL estimate that as many as 290,000 nursing home residents could be displaced from their present setting.
The Double-Edged Sword of the Federal Mandate
This staffing dilemma highlights the risks the new mandate poses to nursing home residents. Although it aims to increase the quality and level of care residents receive, the mandate may force some nursing homes to reduce the number of residents they care for.
However, one primary goal of the mandate is to reduce the incidence of nursing home residents being abused or neglected. If fewer residents and their loved ones need to seek legal redress for their harm, perhaps the good of the mandate will outweigh the potential bad effects.