Nursing home residents have unique care needs that must be taken care of by staff members. It’s up to nursing home administrators to ensure they have the people there to care for all residents.
Recently, the Biden administration issued new regulations regarding to staffing that some say are a step in the right direction, but that they won’t result in high-quality care. According to Health News Florida, four out of five nursing homes will have to augment their payroll to meet the new standards.
What are the new regulations?
The new regulations go into full effect in two years. By that time, each resident must receive an average of 3.48 hours of daily care. As it stands, around 60% of nursing homes already meet this requirement. Within three years, the regulations require that at least .55 hours of care each day must be provided by a registered nurse (RN).
Another change in the regulations is that there will have to be an RN on staff on weekends and overnight. The current requirement is that some kind of licensed nurse must be on staff around the clock, but RNs only have to account for a minimum of eight consecutive hours per day.
There’s no guarantee that these regulations will improve care. It’s still up to each staff member to do their best to care for the residents. Incidents of nursing home neglect and abuse can lead to significant harm to the residents. Any resident who’s subjected to harm at the hands of the staff may opt to pursue a compensation claim.
