When a family member requires more supervision and assistance, it may come to the point where a nursing home is the answer. However, the current state of nursing homes is troubling due to staffing shortages. Care could suffer and the potential for harm is heightened.
January 1, 2022 Deadline
According to the Nursing Home Staffing and Quality Care Act, nursing home facilities have until January 1st to provide 3.58 hours of direct nursing car per day, or pay a penalty. Without a doubt, most nursing homes will have to increase their staff levels to meet the care requirement, but staff levels are already laboring.
John Gage is the President of the Rhode Island Health Care Association representing more than 80% of the states nursing homes. NBC10 reports Gage’s explanation for the shortage, “Hospitals are offering $20,000 sign on bonuses for nurses. We can’t compete with that,”. There are some nursing homes who can supply $1,500 to $2,000 but even despite that, retaining employees has been an ongoing problem since the pandemic.
More Staff Shortages Coming
Nursing home administrators are also expecting more shortages due to the vaccine mandate, which beings October 1. Nevertheless, staffing shortages started before the mandate, and in some cases have lead to nursing homes being shut down.
The nursing home staffing shortage can put a family member’s care and treatment at risk. The seasoned attorneys at Dana and Dana Attorneys at Law have successfully represented a wide variety of nursing home neglect and elder abuse cases. They make themselves widely available to provide insights and advice when it comes to elder abuse in nursing homes.
Contact Dana and Dana
If you or a loved one may have been the victim of abuse or neglect at a nursing home, we can help. The nursing home/elder abuse attorneys at Dana and Dana have extensive experience helping families recover damages in cases of nursing home abuse or neglect. Contact us today for a free consultation and find out how we can help.
