President Biden promised a major overhaul of nursing home care in his 2022 State of the Union address due to the horror stories during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new proposed staffing standards for nursing homes have been unveiled, receiving mixed reactions from advocates and criticism from the long-term care industry. Click here for article.
Labor unions like AFL-CIO and SEIU have praised the proposed standards, emphasizing the need for safer working conditions for nursing home workers.
The proposed standards include:
Having at least one registered nurse available 24/7.
Guaranteeing each patient 33 minutes of a nurse's time per day.
Providing every resident with about 2.5 hours of a certified nursing assistant's care daily.
Maintaining a ratio of at least one certified nursing assistant for every 10 residents.
These measures would require over 75% of nursing homes in the U.S. to hire additional staff, which the nursing home industry argues is unfeasible due to a shortage of healthcare workers.
Nonprofit nursing homes, already at a competitive disadvantage compared to for-profit chains, fear the mandates could lead to closures.
Some lawmakers, including Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett, criticize the proposal for being weak and inadequate in improving care quality and addressing mistreatment of nursing home staff.
However, organizations like AARP welcome the move towards enforceable standards, citing the deadly consequences of poor-quality care in nursing homes.
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