“Low pay and poor benefits for nursing assistants is resulting in a “crisis” of low quality care in nursing homes, according to a report released Tuesday by the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (PHI).

Nursing assistant jobs are often characterized by poor benefits, high injury rates, erratic scheduling, high turnover, few opportunities for advancement and low pay, the report asserts. Nearly half of nursing assistants live in households that earn far less than the federal poverty level, with one in three assistants relying on public benefits.

“As a result of poor-quality nursing assistant jobs, vacancies are growing and turnover is high, undermining the continuity and quality of care for nursing home residents.” the report’s authors wrote.

To remedy the issue, PHI argues that providers need to “raise the floor” for nursing assistants and support staff by paying competitive wages, providing health insurance and creating consistent shifts with full-time hours. The profession’s high turnover rates may also be stemmed with better employee training, support and opportunities for professional growth, the report’s authors added.

The issue could also benefit from legislative action, PHI noted, including minimum wage increases, greater transparency and requirements that a certain percentage of reimbursements be directed to wages for frontline workers.

“To attract and retain nursing assistants, policymakers and employers alike need to envision how these jobs become a family-sustaining career comparable with those in other industries,” the report states

Blogger comment:

I have to comment on PHI’s assertion that increasing pay levels will improve quality and CMS claiming quality is improving.  It isn’t and won’t so long as facilities are paid for low income not quality outcome. How about RUGs and managed care cause poor quality. Current payment is based on math not on need. We’ve been fighting high turnover and low satisfaction for 30 years due to the reimbursement systems. Bundled payment is just another academic hair brain idea for paying for maximum expectations using algorithms, negative surveys and civil money penalties then blaming the providers for mismanagement and fraud. It’s about time that the trade associations stand up for the providers and stop placating the politicians.