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August
16, 2000
Illinois
Council on Long Term Care Responds to Federal Report
Recommending Minimum Staffing Standards
for Nation's
Nursing Homes
(Chicago)
-- The Department of Health and Human Services recently
released a report to Congress that recommends new federal
standards that would require thousands of homes to hire
more nurses and health aides.
The
Illinois Council on Long Term Care, a nursing home professional
association representing 220 nursing facilities serving
over 38,000 residents, agrees that more should be done
to increase staffing levels in our nation's nursing
homes, including those in the state of Illinois, providing
the necessary steps are taken to attract and retain
quality employees in the first place. Lawmakers must
address the issue of increasing staff availability if
we are to successfully raise staffing levels in our
state's nursing facilities.
"Mandating
increased staffing levels in nursing homes accomplishes
very little if there are simply not enough qualified
workers available to fill these positions," states
Terrence Sullivan, executive director of the Illinois
Council on Long Term Care.
The
Illinois Council recommends a four-step legislative
plan that would help long term care facilities find
and keep the employees needed to provide quality resident
care and services:
1.
Address the Domestic Nursing Shortage By Attracting
Professional Nurses from Abroad-- All sectors of
the health care field -- hospitals, home health, nursing
homes, and clinics -- have been impacted by the shortage
of available American nurses. In 1989, a visa program
was created to address the nationwide domestic nursing
shortage by attracting professional nurses from abroad.
The H-1A program enabled foreign-born professional nurses
on visa to work at health care facilities. The program
ended in 1997, taking thousands of nurses out of the
potential employee marketplace. The Illinois Council
recommends reinstituting the H-1A program so that nursing
home residents and their families will benefit from
a larger pool of available nurses.
2.
Pass Legislation That Would Allow the Hiring of Single-Task
Workers -- Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin
recently introduced legislation (HR 4547) that would
allow single-task personal aides nationwide to perform
basic caregiving tasks, such as feeding nursing home
residents, grooming them, or transporting them in wheelchairs.
These employees would be trained in their area of specialization,
and they would be under the supervision of a licensed
nurse. With a shrinking pool of available nurse aides,
enabling facilities to hire single-task workers will
expand the employment opportunities for people who do
not want a full-time position as a nursing assistant,
such as mothers of school-age children and college students,
while increasing the number of trained personal care
workers to meet the residents' needs.
3.
Enable Wage Pass-Through to Nurse Aides Through the
Medicaid System
Nursing
assistants provide 70 percent of the care given to nursing
home residents. They deserve increased compensation
for the dedicated and compassionate caregiving that
they provide nursing home residents. The Illinois Council
recommends that the state of Illinois develop a system
of increased Medicaid reimbursement, with additional
revenue given directly to the nurse aides themselves
through a wage pass-through system. By enabling facilities
to offer current and prospective nurse aides higher
wages, particularly considering the highly competitive
employment market in our current booming economy, nursing
facilities will be able to attract and keep more quality
front-line staff.
4.
Develop a Career Ladder Program for the State's Nurse
Aides
Many
nurse aides enter the long-term care field with the
dream of eventually becoming nurses. However, the system
allows for few opportunities for increased education
or professional advancement in nursing without quitting
a job for a year or two. Most nurse aides cannot afford
to do that and still support a family. The Illinois
Council recommends that the state of Illinois develop
a career ladder program for nurse aides, with nurse
aides given the opportunity to advance to higher levels
in their profession (such as nurse aide level one, level
two, and level three). We recommend increasing the educational
opportunities for these aides, with their course work
counting toward a degree as a licensed practical nurse
and registered nurse. By developing a career ladder
program, long-term care facilities would be able to
increase employee expertise, reward dedicated caregivers,
and help fulfill their dreams of professional advancement.
Both
federal and state legislators need to consider the realities
of the current health care employee marketplace and
assess what needs to be done to attract and retain front-line
staff. Legislative measures should be passed that will
increase the pool of available staff, reward staff members
for their dedicated service, and provide them opportunities
for professional advancement. Only by considering these
important employment issues can the federal government
realistically make a positive impact on the resident
care provided in our nation's 17,000 nursing homes.
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