99% of nursing home operators admit they ask staff to work overtime or extra shifts
In a recent survey of nursing home owners, Seventy-three percent said they will have to close over staffing shortages.They are asking for more government money to “build up the pipeline to incentivize more people to pursue a career in long term care.”
Key findings:
- Sixty percent of facilities said their workforce situation has worsened since January.
- Ninety-nine percent of facilities are asking staff to work overtime or extra shifts.
- Eighty-seven percent are currently experiencing moderate to high staffing shortages. Of those, 48 percent are at a high level.
- Ninety-eight percent are experiencing difficulty hiring staff.
What’s your advice to nursing home owners for how they can attract and retain CNAs?
3 Responses
They shouldn’t always concentrate on just their profits or focus on management.They should take care of us as CNAs. In business, sometimes you could lose money ????. At least yearly bonuses could attract ,and 6 months pay increase, once in a while maybe snakes or order lunch for us. Show some appreciations and only saying it but doing something for us will help
Lucy I agree! They need to do more to ensure that CNAs are taken care of, which will help with retention rates.
The facility I was working at only gives us 34 hours a week and puts its floor employees (CNA’s mostly) in a position that they have to pick up doubles. (16 hours)
While it sounds ok, they had us doing a whole hall’s worth of showers (15+) with no shower-aide, these folks get up for breakfast, those people get up for physical therapy etc etc. When one person is responsible for 21+ people on 2 separate halls within a unit it makes it next to impossible. Add in management always following behind and picking on things like questioning you when you’re feeding someone “why was so-and-so’s tray on the cart” and when you explain they refused it they act like you’re lying. That micromanagement/hovering when they could be helping. The cherry on top is the lovely $14-$15 per hour.
I love working bedside. I love my residents. But as the song says “sometimes love ain’t enough”. I do this for a passion for the field but also I want to have enough to sustain myself and not just eek by and barely exist in part due to finances and in part due to my body being drained from having to put in 6 doubles in order to live. It’s not sustainable.
CNA’s honestly need to group together like the nurses did. That’s the only way they’ll feel it and make a change. Otherwise it’s just us yelling into the wind.