As the baby boomers age, nursing homes face unprecedented understaffing issues. Understaffing in Nursing Homes The current economic climate has made it difficult for many people to find jobs, which makes it even more astounding that there is such a significant shortage of nursing home workers. The bottom line is that nursing home assignments are… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Nursing Home Staff
Subscribe to Nursing Home Staff RSS FeedLabor Shortage In Nursing Homes Is A Safety Concern
Posted in Nursing Home StaffNursing homes across the country are having great difficulty finding workers, and the industry expects that the problem will only get worse as the baby boomer generation gets older. Under-staffing in Nursing Homes Worker shortage for nursing homes has occurred primarily because the rate of elderly people has increased but the rate of people interested… Continue Reading
Nursing Home Chain With Troubled Past Agrees To Hire More Staff
Posted in Nursing Home StaffUnder-staffing in nursing homes is an ongoing problem that stems from the fact that staffing a facility is usually considered the largest overhead component. By reducing staffing levels or hiring staff with less experience– and hence a lower salary– nursing home operators can extract more revenue from each facility. When cost cutting methods are applied… Continue Reading
Will More Compassionate Staff Make For Better Nursing Home Care?
Posted in Nursing Home StaffSometimes I get some heat from staff in nursing homes who read my blog about how I come across overly critical of their profession. First off, if I do, I publicly apologize to any nursing home staff who took some of my industry critiques personally. The truth is that for 95% of people working in… Continue Reading
Nursing Home Patients Suffer Due To Low Prioritization Of Staffing Needs
Posted in Nursing Home StaffResidents of nursing homes aren’t the only ones fighting against the lack of proper care and attention that far too many residents in nursing homes receive today. In Illinois this past Wednesday, nursing home caregivers / employees protested outside of fifty different nursing homes across the state, fighting for improved wages and working conditions. This… Continue Reading
To Care For Others, Nursing Home Employees (and other cargivers) Need To Also Care For Themselves
Posted in Nursing Home StaffMost people have bad days at work and give less than their best at times. However, if your job is to care for others, your bad day can relate to poor care and even neglect for your patients. Nursing home employees can have very stressful jobs and to ensure they are able to give the… Continue Reading
Nursing Homes Need To Do A Better Job Identifying Abusive Employees
Posted in Nursing Home Abuse, Nursing Home StaffWhy is it that so many incidents involving abusive nursing home employees only come to the surface after an investigation has been completed by law enforcement or after complaints have been made by a family? While not every episode of abuse carried out by a nursing home employee may be readily identifiable, I get the… Continue Reading
Jail Time For CNA Who Posted Photos Of Nursing Home Patients On Facebook
Posted in Nursing Home StaffSome people have no business working in a nursing home. After reading a news report about Nai Mai Chao, I think I would certainly add her to the list. In her role as a CNA at Regency Pacific Nursing Home and Rehab Center in Portland, OR, Ms. Chao was obviously privy to many personal situations… Continue Reading
Take This Job & Shove It! Disturbing Insights Concerning Working Conditions At Large Nursing Home Chain
Posted in Nursing Home StaffWhen it comes to selecting a nursing home, assisted living facility — or even a hospital, to care for a loved one, the selection process can be difficult because of the incredible array of information. While there is no shortage of websites available that boast all sorts of information, I find much of it to… Continue Reading
Ohio Nursing Homes Forced to Shed 2,800 Jobs; Gov’t Budget Cuts to Blame
Posted in Nursing Home StaffRobyn Dixon was one of the lucky Ohio nurses: after losing her job at the Golden Years Nursing Center in Hamilton, OH, she was quickly able to find another position in Cincinnati. But the fate of nearly 3,000 other laid-off Ohio nursing home staff remains largely unknown. In October, the federal government cut Medicare payments… Continue Reading
Majority Of Nurses Fear For The Safety Of Their Patients
Posted in Nursing Home StaffEvery nursing home abuse case I get involved with ultimately boils down to problems with staffing— or simply an inadequate supply of it. Particularly when dealing with a vulnerable group of patients in a nursing home or hospital, even minor errors can result in exceedingly complex medical complications. While my impressions on staffing issues in… Continue Reading
Assisted Living Facility Willing To Forgive & Forget Nurse’s Criminal Past
Posted in Nursing Home StaffEveryone deserves a second chance— or do they? What about when the individual has a past that makes him / her particularly unsuitable for a particular job? What if the person is working with particularly vulnerable people? Should we just ignore the person’s past indiscretions and give them the opportunity to redeem themselves? While I… Continue Reading
Nursing Home Problems Likely To Continue As Long Facilities Continue To Treat Staff Like Second Class Citizens
Posted in Nursing Home StaffThe recent defeat of an Indiana Bill that would have set minimum staffing standards for nursing home care is a real slap in the face for both nursing home patients and nursing home staff. Under the terms of HB 1412, sponsored by Representative Clyde Kersey (D- Terre Haute), Indiana nursing homes would be required to… Continue Reading
New Government Report Demonstrates Alarming Number Of Criminals Caring For Elderly In Nursing Homes
Posted in Nursing Home StaffI had to do a double-take when I saw some nursing home staffing statistics referenced in a report released by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). An alarming 92% of nursing homes across the country have at least one criminal– in one form or another– working at the facility. In calculating this disturbing statistic,… Continue Reading
Study Demonstrates Nursing Home Workers Earn Less Than Minimum Wage
Posted in Nursing Home StaffA study evaluating pay-rates of nursing home workers has determined that Medicaid reimburses facilities an average of just $7.17 per hour for their workers– when the national minimum wage is now $7.25 per hour. The study was funded by the research group Eljay which further discovered that nursing homes across the country are severely under-funded–… Continue Reading
Health Care Reform Act Allocates Funds For Thorough Background Checks Of Health Care Workers
Posted in Nursing Home Abuse, Nursing Home StaffSix states will be receiving federal grants from the Health Care Reform Act to perform thorough background checks on employees at nursing homes and other facilities that house vulnerable people. While some states already employ background checks of new employees, the new funding is intended to be more exhaustive that the measures currently in place. … Continue Reading
Suspect A Problem Nurse? Learn More About The Nurses History Here?
Posted in Nursing Home StaffI received a lot of emails from families who were concerned about the safety of their loved ones following our recent Nursing Homes Abuse Blog entry regarding the lack of national regulation of nurses. Our blog entry was based on an in depth report regarding nursing regulation that appeared in a ProPublica series on poor… Continue Reading
Wait A While & Bad Nurses May Just Migrate To Your State To Care For Your Loved One
Posted in Medication Errors, Neglect, Nursing Home StaffLoopholes in a reciprocity program amongst 24 states that allows nurses from one state to transfer to another may be putting a tremendous number of nursing home and hospital patients at risk for receiving poor care– or perhaps more accurately downright dangerous care. A recent USA Today article "Bad nurses able to keep working in… Continue Reading
Nursing Home Chain Hit With Landmark Verdict In Under-Staffing Class Action Lawsuit
Posted in Litigation, Nursing Home Abuse, Nursing Home StaffI guess there’s probably a lot a screaming and yelling going on at the Skilled Healthcare Group (SKH) headquarters in California. Perhaps the anger derives from the miserable looking financial chart for the company showing a whopping 75% decline in price per share in one day! Another portion of the companies anger is probably being misdirected… Continue Reading
Nursing Home Bookkeeper Admits To Stealing Money From Facility
Posted in Nursing Home Staff, Whistleblower / Qui Tam ClaimsSadly, at a time when many are feeling severe financial strain, some nursing home operators and employees are turning to another source of potential income– stealing state and federal funds intended for nursing home patients. The most recent case of stealing or Medicare fraud– which is essentially what most of these cases come down to… Continue Reading
Class Action Lawsuit Against Skilled Healthcare Seeks Damages For Chronic Understaffing Of Nursing Homes
Posted in Abuse In Chicago Nursing Homes & Other Communities Within Illinois, Nursing Home StaffIf you were to look at just one criteria for selecting a nursing home, I’d tell you to look at the facilities staffing levels. Sure, its nice to have a sparkly new facility and perhaps a gourmet chef, but when it comes down to patient care nothing can take the place of a sufficiently staffed… Continue Reading
Less Patients, Happier Staff, Healthier Patients. Research Shows Less May Acutally Be More When It Comes To Patient Loads For Nurses
Posted in Nursing Home StaffWithout proper staffing, even the most modern nursing homes are nothing more than buildings with beds. Knowledgeable and plentiful staff has always appeared to improve patient morale, but a new study determines that added staff may actually save lives. The Journal of Health Services Research compared the outcomes from 1.1 million people who had general… Continue Reading
Temp Workers Becoming An Increasing Threat To Nursing Home Patients’ Safety
Posted in Nursing Home StaffAs if we need another reason to be concerned over nursing home patient safety, an article in the L.A. Times on temporary nurses in hospitals and nursing homes will surely make you cringe. A desire to run a streamlined operation and the inherent uncertainly of required staffing levels has resulted in a booming temporary staffing… Continue Reading
Would you want this man to care for your granny at the nursing home?
Posted in Nursing Home StaffSure looks can be deceiving, but this guy sure looks creepy to me! The guy pictured above is Franklin D. Hughes, a former CNA at Bartlesville Care Center. If his creepy looks weren’t enough, Mr. Hughes stands accused of sexually assaulting two dementia patients he was responsible for caring for at Bartlesville. Making situation… Continue Reading