The Biden administration has made a significant step in transforming the oversight of nursing homes with new standards for mandatory staffing. These changes, which set minimum requirements for the amount of direct care each nursing home resident should receive from nurses and aides, are set to profoundly impact the quality of care provided to residents.
The finalized rules mandate that nursing homes receiving Medicare and Medicaid funding must provide a total of at least 3.48 hours of nursing care per resident per day. This includes specific periods of care provided by registered nurses and nurse aides. The regulation also sets out the required staffing levels, with facilities needing to ensure coverage of at least two or three registered nurses, along with 10 or 11 nurse aides, and two additional nurse staff per shift for every 100 residents.
While the rules are considered the most substantial changes to federal oversight of the nation’s approximately 15,000 nursing homes in over three decades, they have raised concerns among patient advocates. Many argue that the rules fall short of the stringent measures needed to deliver high-quality care. The move by the Biden administration is seen as a step towards addressing the chronic understaffing that plagues the nursing home industry.
The new guidelines will largely necessitate nursing homes to hire more nurses and aides. Data analysis by USA Today revealed that nearly all nursing homes will have to increase their staffing levels to comply with the new minimum requirements. In a significant gap seen across many southern states, most skilled nursing facilities failed to meet the new staffing requirements on a consistent basis.
The released data revealed that just 160 out of around 14,500 nursing homes receiving federal payments for care were able to meet the new requirements daily. Most nursing homes met core components of the new rule only on a few days out of 92 in the quarter, indicating a widespread struggle to fulfill the staffing norms. On average, facilities could provide each resident with at least 0.55 hours of care from a registered nurse each day, falling short of the minimum requirement. Furthermore, the facilities provided each resident with 2.45 hours of care from a certified nursing assistant, only one day per week while the new rules necessitate this daily.
The Biden administration’s move to set national standards for nursing home staffing reflects an essential step in addressing the critical issues related to patient care and well-being in these facilities. As nursing homes across the nation strive to comply with the new requirements, the impact on the provision of care and the overall quality of life for residents is eagerly anticipated.
