Nursing homes in one state are experiencing extremely low staffing with nearly half of the facilities either below or much below the national staffing average for nursing homes. The issue is becoming more public as reporting methods of actual staffing have been updated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) to increase accuracy. Facilities historically were able to project staffing and have the facility surveyed on a given date to verify staffing levels. The facilities would then ensure staffing was adequate for that date in time.
CMS now requires facilities to provide actual payroll records to verify staffing levels over time. With the new reporting method, 70% of nursing home facilities nationally reported lower staffing levels. According to an acting long-term-care ombudsman, “We suspect insufficient staffing is the root cause of a number of our complaints”. Staffing shortages affect patient care that leads to negligence and incidents such as falls, pressure sores, infections, and hospitalizations. For more, read the story.
