Health care organizations push back on proposed nursing home staff rule
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) - Nursing homes nationwide might soon be in need of more staff.
The proposed staffing standard issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would require a registered nurse on-site 24/7 as well as an overall increase in staff.
The proposal also states patients would receive at least half an hour of nursing care and about 2 and a half hours of care from a nurse aid each day.
CMS estimates around 75 percent of nursing homes in the U.S. would need to hire more workers to meet these standards.
The proposed rule is built upon the Biden-Harris Administration Action Plan for Nursing Home Reform.
Those in the field are not sure this action is the best to take.
The chief operating officer of the South Dakota Healthcare Associations, Tammy Hatting said regulations like these could make it harder to provide care in nursing homes.
” What this staffing mandate is at this point is almost kind of like a punch in the gut to nursing homes after everything they have been through during the pandemic and how they were able to overcome all of the challenges that they were facing and keeping residents safe,” Hatting said.
Officials from South Dakota Healthcare Associations as well as the Good Samaritan Society say they agree the proposed rule will not help nursing homes in the current staffing conditions after the COVID-19 pandemic.
President and CEO of the Good Samaritan Society, Nate Schema said he urges CMS to reconsider.
“A one-size-fits-all approach for staffing is short-sighted and out of touch with reality. CMS is turning its back on the needs of our residents and caregivers by choosing to propose an arbitrary, unfunded, one-size-fits-all minimum staffing ratio instead of making meaningful investments in the long-term care workforce,” Schema said.
The comment period for the proposed rule remains open until November 6, 2023. To submit a formal comment on minimum staffing standards for long-term care facilities click here.
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