2003 Nursing Home Staffing Act

There is a general consensus that elder abuse is nationwide problem. The Nursing Home Abuse Resource Center suggests that today there are approximately 1.6 million elders residing in our nations 17,000 nursing homes and 90 percent of these residents are over the age of 65.

The majority of these residents rely primarily upon staff assistance with many of their basic activities of daily living. In considering the need for such daily assistance, it is important to recognize that 54 percent of American nursing homes are below the federally regulated minimum staffing levels for nurse aids (Nerenberg, L. 2002).

The Nursing Home Staffing Act, H.R. 3355, and the recently submitted companion bill, S. 1988, recognize that staffing levels are substandard and vital to improving resident quality of care.

These bills would require amendments to titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to establish increases in the minimum requirements for nurse staffing levels in those nursing homes that receive payment through the Medicare and Medicaid Program.

They propose an increase in the minimum nurse-staffing requirements to 4.1 hours per resident day. Current regulations require a minimum of only 2.7.

Mandating that Nursing facilities report their staffing levels is another very important aspect of this legislation, which would hold facilities more responsible for maintaining the appropriate levels of staffing on a daily basis. Currently Nursing Homes are only required to post this information for easy viewing in their facility. The next step is to mandate that they report it!

It is important to recognize that elder abuse, in general, and resident quality of care in long term care facilities involve many complex contributing factors such as cost, staffing shortages, management ethics, resident acuity levels, and overall team work to name a few. Yet through research it has been found that insufficient staffing levels plays a very vital role in the overall problem.

It would be nearly impossible to enact one single piece of legislation that could prevent all of the complicated factors and issues involving insufficient care and resident abuse in nursing homes. Yet, legislative efforts must begin somewhere and with substantial data and reports conducted nationwide which adequately demonstrate the how detrimental staffing levels are to resident quality of care and abuse prevention, one must agree that it appears to be an appropriate starting point.

As a result of such studies, the importance of staffing levels and the relationship to elder abuse has entered the political arena in a request for reform. The Nursing Home Staffing Act of 2003, HR 3355 and the companion bill S. 1988 are steps in the right direction to address issues of elder abuse and neglect in our nations nursing homes.

Your attention to this would be most appreciated as our elderly need your support!

Sources:
Hawes, C. (2002). Elder abuse in residential long-term care facilities: What is known about prevalence, causes, and prevention. Testimony Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance. http://finance.senate.gov/hearings/testimony/061802chtest.pdf

HCFA releases nursing home staffing study.(8/ 2003).[Electronic Version] www.afscme.org/publications/issueb/ib0008c.htm


HR 3355 (2003) The nursing home staffing act of 2003. [Electronic Version] www.legis.state.pa.us

Nerenberg, L. (2002) Abuse in nursing homes. National Center on Elder Abuse
Newsletter. (5). www.elderabusecenter.org


S 1988 IS. Nursing Home Staffing Act of 2003 [Electronic Version]www.thomas.loc.gov