70% of Long-Term Care Staff Think Staffing Shortage Will Continue or Get Worse Over Next Three Years

A survey of more than 2,050 industry professionals found that similar to 2020, burnout (79%) was cited as the top personal challenge facing caregivers and hourly employees today, followed by having to work multiple jobs (55%) and lack of childcare (51%).

Of the 96% of respondents who indicated they are facing a staffing shortage, over a third reported it has limited their ability to take on new admissions and move-ins. This impact was felt most heavily among skilled nursing providers (47%).

Software firm OnShift collected the data in the fall in its third annual Workforce 360 Survey.

Advertisement

“We hear a lot about staffing shortages and clearly that’s a bigger issue than ever before,” OnShift President and COO Ray Desrochers told Skilled Nursing News. “I think that 79% of the survey respondents said the staffing shortages were a big issue in their organizations and if you look at the impact that’s having on these businesses and the impact it’s having on the people they are caring for it’s pretty significant.”

Desrochers said the impact the crisis has had on new admissions has been higher than he would have expected.

“That’s now a factor that is really hurting the business and is hurting the economics of these businesses as well,” he said.

Advertisement

Many operators have had to look to paying staff overtime and staff agencies to handle staffing crunches, though neither solution appears to be sustainable. In some states, staffing agencies have been accused of jacking wages up to such an extent that health officials have drafted policy to prevent it from continuing.

“[In the report] 99% cited overtime costs and 71% reported an increase in the use of agency so there’s a whole bunch of side effects of this staffing shortage,” Desrochers said.

Similar to previous years, respondents don’t see much relief in sight when it comes to costs. The majority believe difficulties managing labor costs (70%) will remain the same or worsen over the next three years.

“One of the things that is a key differentiator for the people that are doing better at this, is they have really started to focus on employee experience. And they have to started to align that experience with their workforce expectations,” Desrochers said.

Wage hikes had varied results in retaining and recruiting staff.

“It depends on the level of increase. Nominal increases, those have limited impact. Some have actually done things like shift differentials for some of their less desirable shifts, those have had more impact,” he said. “It’s really all over the map.”

Companies featured in this article: