In case you missed it, the workforce crisis in our nation’s long term care facilities is growing more dire. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that long term care facilities have lost more than 400,000 employees since the start of the pandemic. These are the nurses, aides and staff that provide round-the-clock care to our nation’s most vulnerable residents. It is time for leaders in Washington, D.C. to step up and help resolve this ongoing issue.
According to a recent report from the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), skilled nursing and residential care facilities lost over 145,000 workers between December 2020 and December 2021, while hospitals only lost 45,000. The labor shortage is so severe within the long term care industry that many facilities have been forced to limit the admission of new residents or close altogether.
A number of factors have led to ongoing shortages, including caregiver burnout due to the years-long pandemic. In some cases, caregivers have chosen to seek employment elsewhere, as other caregiving settings such as hospitals have the funding to offer better incentives, bonuses and salaries.
The Biden administration proposed solving this ongoing crisis by implementing minimum staffing requirements for long term care facilities across the country as part of a nursing home reform plan, but this policy would have the opposite effect. Providers would be forced to comply with the requirement but would not have any support or resources to find the workers to fill critical roles. Facilities want and need additional staff but cannot find staff during this unprecedented labor shortage.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy have highlighted increasing rates of burnout among health care workers. “The nation’s health depends on the well-being of our health workforce. Confronting the long-standing drivers of burnout among our health workers must be a top national priority,” Murthy said. Unfortunately, unfunded workforce mandates would only make this situation worse.
The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) has a different proposed solution, laid out in the Care for Our Seniors Act. The proposal includes several suggestions to supply, attract and retain an adequate long term care workforce. This includes loan forgiveness for new graduates who work in long term care, tax credits for licensed long term care professionals, programs for affordable housing and childcare assistance and increased subsidies to professionals’ schools whose graduates work in nursing homes for at least five years. Backed by funding, these solutions would help facilities recruit and retain a robust workforce.
AHCA/NCAL also has expressed support for the Building America’s Healthcare Workforce Act, which was introduced by Congressman Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Congresswoman Madeleine Dean (D-PA) and Congressman David B. McKinley (R-WV) earlier this month. The bill would expedite the process for temporary nurse aides to become certified nursing assistants (CNA) so that they can join the aching workforce. In response to the introduction of the legislation, Holly Harmon, RN, senior vice president of Quality, Regulatory & Clinical Services for AHCA/NCAL, said:
“This legislation will prevent further devastating job losses, in turn protecting access to care for our nation’s seniors. We look forward to working with Congress to help pass this critical legislation."
Addressing workforce shortages through meaningful reform and additional funding from lawmakers and public health officials is the only way to ensure that long term care facilities will be able to continue providing high quality care for residents when they need it most.