A change that could help nursing homes recover from fears of COVID-19 and become safer places for aging parents

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Ttwo weeks after the first case of the US of COVID-19 was identified in Snohomish County, Washington, in early 2020, my father had a stroke at his home just across Puget Sound. More cases of COVID-19 were about to come to the near surface qualified nursing facility, marking the beginning of a crisis for nursing homes across the country.

My dad was incredibly lucky. It was a minor stroke and did not need care in the nursing home. But the type of stroke that he had is one of the main risk factors for cognitive impairment and vascular dementia. I know nursing care may be in your future.

Throughout the pandemic, nursing homes have been the headlines as places with uncontrolled cases of COVID-19 and social isolation, which research shows can worsen people’s health. About a third of all the deaths reported by COVID-19 in the United States have been in residences, making them one of the most dangerous places to work.

As an only child of aging parents, the pandemic stories left me preoccupied with the idea of ​​handing over the responsibility of caring for a nursing home one day. As an expert in health care systems Whoever has asked policymakers to prioritize nursing homes throughout the pandemic, I know it shouldn’t be like that.

There is one particular step that nursing homes can take that I believe will improve the residents ’environment: invest in staff to reduce turnover and allow nurses to spend more time with each resident.

Nursing homes and their role in the pandemic

Nursing homes, including specialized nursing facilities that offer medical services or rehabilitative therapy, provide care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 1.5 million residents in the United States.

People are often admitted to residences when they need help daily activities, how to dress, bathe and feed. They may need long-term medical or rehabilitative therapy or while recovering after surgery. Nursing homes are often an option for people with dementia health deteriorates; half of the residents of nursing homes have dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers have examined whether nursing homes with high grades Medicare and Medicaid service centers were associated with fewer cases of COVID-19, But they mixed results have been found.

One factor that was associated with lower infection rates was more minutes spent per patient with registered nurses. That means more personal.

Challenges for nursing home staff

Hiring more people is not an easy task. Since before the pandemic, the capacity of nursing homes meet minimum staffing expectations established by the federal government has been a challenge.

Demand for nursing home staff is high. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Projects Job Growth for Certified Nursing Assistant Positions twice the average rate of this for other occupations over the next decade, mainly driven by an aging population with complex health needs. The demand for registered nurses is it is also expected to be high. However, the supply of workers is limited.

A recent study found that, on average, all nursing staff in a nursing home could do so. rotate at least once a year, and some more than three times in a year. In the most recent national report on jobs, nursing facilities and residences as a group He kept watching a downward trend in employment compared to other sectors of health care.

There are reasons for the high turnover of nursing homes and the low supply of nursing home workers. It is well documented that nursing assistants, for example, have it low wages, averaging $ 14.84 per hour in nursing homes, few benefits, job dissatisfaction ia lack of professional mobility. The pandemic has succeeded even more difficult for the hiring of nursing homes, given concerns about insufficient personal protective equipment and high rates of COVID-19 infections and mortality among staff.

Now, an emerging threat to the supply of workers is the low adoption of the COVID-19 vaccine due to a lack of confidence among the staff of nursing homes in institutions that were supposed to protect them.

3 paths to follow

For the past year, I’ve done it written i he declared before Congress on investing in the careers of nursing home staff by increasing wages and improving their job security.

These facilities could have better chances of contracting between the 2.3 million leisure and hospitality workers who remain unemployed due to the pandemic if they increased job security in nursing homes and increased wages. Leisure and hospitality are the most common industry according to my research, from which health care has extracted workers.

President Joe Biden recently called for one $ 400 billion investment through an expansion of Medicaid, the state-federal program that insures low-income people, people with disabilities, and millions of seniors, to strengthen home care. Home care visits are usually more affordable than nursing homes for those whose family or friends can care for them at home or in the community. The investment aims to significantly improve wages and benefits for health and home care assistants.

Nursing homes should not be left behind. If only 5% of that $ 400 billion went to residential staff, my colleagues and I estimate that yes increase the salaries of certified nursing assistants to nursing homes for $ 5 per hour for at least one year. The staff would be less than less pressure to work various jobs, and the industry could attract more experienced workers.

Another way to improve the workforce: the federal government could increase reimbursements through Medicaid, the main ruler that pays for residences, to the level of Medicare, which will reimburse at a higher rate. That way, nursing homes would be in a better position to pay more for their staff and invest in better care.

Finally, if the wage increase led to a greater supply of workers, nursing homes would have more flexibility to explore. new models of care. These models include dedicating more staff to fewer residents (potentially through smaller nursing homes), which could lead to better health care for residents.

The problems are solvable. Improving the care and staffing models of nursing homes can help save millions of families, including mine, the future agony of deciding whether nursing homes are a good place for mom or dad.

Bianca Frogner, Associate Professor of Family Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, and Director of the Center for Health Workforce Studies, University of Washington

This article is republished from The conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.





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