For the nursing home industry, 2022 will go down as a historic year, in no small part because the Biden administration announced a comprehensive list of nursing home reforms. The proposals include provisions for minimum staffing requirements, increased financial transparency for operators, and programs to target ‘bad actors’ with financial penalties and increased scrutiny. Not […]
National Association of Health Care Assistants
Staff turnover has reached unsustainable levels in the skilled nursing sector, with some staff – particularly certified nursing assistants (CNAs) – leaving faster than they can be replaced. And it goes beyond just raising wages. Despite a 7.13% national hourly wage increase for CNAs in 2021, turnover still increased significantly at the position — jumping […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) needs to seriously consider what a reduction in skilled nursing reimbursement could mean for facilities that are already barely hanging on. At least that’s what providers have indicated in published comments submitted to the agency over the last month and a half. In total, CMS received approximately […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services temporary nurse aide waiver will come to an end early next month, leaving nursing homes just four months from the June 7 date to get thousands of temporary workers trained and certified — or risk losing them. TNAs hired after June 7 will have four months from their […]
At a time when more than a quarter of nursing facilities are reporting at least one staffing shortage, skilled nursing operators now more than ever have to find creative ways to establish career paths for entry-level positions that are often seen as “dead end jobs.” Dr. Jeff Farber, New Jewish Home president and CEO, worries […]
Together with ShiftMed, the National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA) is launching a new training platform that will give nursing providers a new outlet for recruitment, certification, job placement, continuing education and ongoing career support all in one place. The platform, dubbed the National Institute for CNA Excellence or NICE, includes a learning management […]
Though some nursing home owners had hoped to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind them by the end of 2021, coronavirus variants and the exacerbated staffing shortages have made that impossible for most heading into 2022. If this year has taught the sector anything, it’s that some threats to long-term care won’t be as temporary as […]
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced a new initiative Monday with the goal of recruiting, training and deploying at least 1,000 new CNAs by the end of January who will work in long-term care facilities experiencing staffing shortages. After calling on the National Guard to help nursing homes facing severe staffing shortages last month, the governor […]
The Biden administration’s vaccine mandate on nursing home staff has some operators preparing for a staff exit of up to 30%, the bulk of which is expected to be positions like certified nursing assistants or CNAs. For an industry already in the midst of an unprecedented staffing shortage, fanning the flames for CNAs to seek […]
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed structural issues from top to bottom in the infrastructure of long-term care in the U.S., from infection control to staffing levels to SNFs’ role in the health care system. But one solution would address, if not eliminate, a multitude of those problems, according to a range of operators, consultants, and frontline […]
If there’s been one recurring theme for SNN’s annual executive outlook, it’s the idea that putting 2020 to bed represents a chance to reset and move on past the worst year in the history of the post-acute and long-term space, both in the United States and around the world. But that can only happen if […]
With two COVID-19 vaccines officially authorized for use, the immunization of health care workers and long-term care facility residents is finally underway in earnest. The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorizations (EUAs) to Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) COVID-19 vaccine on December 11 and to Moderna’s (Nasdaq: MRNA) on December 18. There are several considerations […]
Staffing, a long-standing thorn in the side of skilled nursing operators even before the COVID-19 pandemic, has emerged as one of the most critical elements in how facilities manage an outbreak and navigate the current public health emergency. But it would be hard to tell that fact by the pay certified nursing assistants (CNAs), who […]