Maine Writer

Its about people and issues I care about.

My Photo
Name:
Location: Topsham, MAINE, United States

My blogs are dedicated to the issues I care about. Thank you to all who take the time to read something I've written.

Saturday, April 08, 2023

Health care alert! Nurse staffing ratio mandates are harmful to hospitals and health care facilities

Echo opinion by Kevin Evans: Special to the Macomb Daily newspaper in Michigan:  Not many people can say the individuals they work and serve with are family, but for me it’s my reality.
I have been the administrator at Martha T. Berry Medical Care Facility in Mount Clemens (Michigan) for almost seven years, and every day has been an honor – working next to true heroes.

Although the worst of the COVID pandemic is, hopefully, behind us, the long-term care industry is facing lasting challenges, particularly with our workforce availability. There are labor shortages everywhere, but the situation facing the long-term care community is especially difficult. Our trade association – the Heath Care Association of Michigan – estimates that in Michigan alone, we’ve lost more than 10,000 nursing facility workers throughout the pandemic.
We are losing staff to retirement. Others simply outright quit or go to jobs that are less demanding. Our clinicians are being hired by the ever-expanding senior healthcare community, without colleges graduating enough nurses or nurse aides to make up for the losses and increased needs.

Unfortunately, the government’s recommended solution to address our workforce woes is to mandate minimum staffing levels. This won’t work. To only implement a federal minimum staffing requirement without a staffing solution will punish nursing facilities. There simply is not enough staff to meet current needs. 

Additionally, the Medicaid reimbursement models also cause stress, as Medicaid rates have increased only 5%, but the inflation rate’s been 15%. Insufficient resources make it more difficult to address workforce issues.

We are losing staff to retirement. Others simply outright quit or go to jobs that are less demanding. 

Our clinicians are being hired by the ever-expanding senior healthcare community, without colleges graduating enough nurses or nurse aides to make up for the losses and increased needs.

Unfortunately, the government’s recommended solution to address our workforce woes is to mandate minimum staffing levels. This won’t work. To only implement a federal minimum staffing requirement without a staffing solution will punish nursing facilities. There simply is not enough staff to meet current needs. 

Medicaid reimbursement models also cause stress, as Medicaid rates have increased only 5%, but the inflation rate’s been 15%. Insufficient resources make it more difficult to address workforce issues.

To be clear – we want to hire workers, but there aren’t workers to hire. In my facility alone, we have 38 open positions, and we are in the top 10 percent of best staffing levels in the state and nation. But even as we offer very competitive wages, benefits, bonuses, flexible scheduling, and numerous additional perks, the workforce challenges persist. A federal minimum staffing mandate will lead to non-compliance citations that we’ll only be able to address by discharging residents to meet the staffing ratios. 

And that’s not good for anyone.

Without real assistance and creativity to bring in and promote more staff, the long-term care sector will continue to have shortages. There are very few clinicians available in the current market. Spotting an unemployed Registered Nurse who is looking for work is like spotting an animal on the endangered species list – it happens, but it is quite rare.
I am in full agreement with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that there is a staffing crisis but mandating more staff as the only “remedy” won’t help the staffing crisis.

Instead of mandates, we need the support of our regulators and lawmakers to help lessen the significant burden on nursing facilities and prioritize Michigan’s seniors. One program that would make a difference is if Michigan allowed specially trained Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) to administer nursing home resident medications like they do in 22 other states and in Michigan doctor’s offices. The use of medication aides would give registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) more time to provide critical resident care, while providing a way for CNAs to advance their careers inside the sector. Another program that would help is if the state or federal government paid for CNAs to become LPNs and RNs. This would also offer a career ladder inside our caring community.

Caring for the most vulnerable is a noble and difficult calling. We need collaboration, not more regulatory burden. Of this I am certain: A staffing mandate is superficial. It definitely won’t help the workforce crisis, and it is not the way to ensure that our elderly citizens remain a top priority.

Published in MACOMB Daily: 
Kevin Evans is Executive Director/Administrator of the Martha T. Berry Medical Care Facility in Mount Clemens.

Labels: , , , , ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home