Nursing home workforce shortage grows

Source: Healthcare Digital

Date :22/06/2007 09:25:19

My InnerView survey results show improvement, but workforce shortage still threatens U.S. seniors, says American Health Care Association.

The American Health Care Association (AHCA) has announced statistically-based nursing home employee satisfaction surveys, like resident and family satisfaction surveys, are integral to the long term care profession’s ongoing quality improvement efforts. AHCA also noted that the growing prevalence of consumer-driven data like that compiled by the applied research company, ‘My InnerView,’ assists consumers in evaluating an increasingly diverse array of facilities and options now available in the long term care marketplace.

“Overall, the nursing home employee satisfaction data released by My InnerView is indicative of the fact that while a majority of caregivers rate their facility as ‘excellent’ or ‘good,’ we recognize the need to develop and implement effective strategies to improve workforce satisfaction as an additional means of achieving our profession’s ongoing quality improvement objectives,” stays AHCA President and CEO, Bruce Yarwood. “Like My InnerView’s resident and family satisfaction survey, this new data represents another excellent tool now available to assess overall facility performance, and to help consumers make intelligent long term care placement decisions.”

During 2006, My InnerView collected satisfaction data from 106,858 staff working in 1,933 nursing homes in every state (except Alaska) and the District of Columbia. These data represented the largest database ever assembled about employee satisfaction and related demographics in the nation’s nursing homes. This first national report provided a baseline for future measurement of employee satisfaction in nursing homes.

Key findings included:

• A majority of employees (63%) recommend their nursing facility as an “excellent” or “good” place to work. Factors that are most predictive of positive employee recommendations of a facility as a place to work include help dealing with job stress, managers who care and listen, the safety of the workplace, and supervisors who care about them, show appreciation for a job well done and give important work-related information.

• The lowest rates of overall satisfaction are reported by nursing assistants and nurses (54% “excellent” or “good”) compared to all other categories of nursing home employees. Managers and nurses in administration reported the highest levels of satisfaction (78% “excellent” or “good”).

• Employees are more satisfied with supervision (61%) and work environment (60%) than training (57%) or management (45%).

• The proportion of older (age 50+) nurses and nursing assistants increases with length of service. One in two nursing staff with the most time on the job (10+ years) is in this older age group.

• At the individual level, comparison of pay is the weakest predictor of workplace recommendation— suggesting that people who work in nursing homes are not in it strictly for the financial reward. However, pay is among the least favorably rated items especially for nurses and nursing assistants.

• Pay seems to matter more at the organizational level. Nursing assistants give more favorable overall satisfaction and workplace recommendation ratings in those facilities that perform better on pay in comparison to other facilities.

Yarwood also says the data spotlight the fact that while the long term care profession has an experienced core of workers who are steadily growing older, fewer young workers are choosing to work in the nursing home setting. Combined with the tidal wave of Boomers who will soon enter their retirement years – and a looming workforce shortage -- Yarwood says, “Lawmakers must act to not only boost the ranks of America’s long term care workforce, but also provide for the financial stability of the long term care sector.”

In addition to fostering financial stability in the long term care sector, the AHCA President and CEO says Congress must reauthorize funding this year for the Nurse Reinvestment Act, which will help address the need to increase the supply of key direct care workers in the years ahead, such as certified nurse assistants (CNAs), who provide as much as 80 percent of direct patient care.