Minimum Staffing Requirements for Nursing Homes Are on the Horizon.

The Biden administration has finalized new minimum staffing requirements for long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes, in the United States. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will require nursing homes to have at least two registered nurses and 10-11 nurse aides on staff each day, with one RN available 24/7 to provide skilled nursing care. This move aims to improve patient care and address concerns about understaffing in these facilities.

However, the new requirements have received a mixed response from the industry. Some nursing home operators welcome the standards but express concern about the challenge of finding qualified staff due to a critical staffing shortage exacerbated by the pandemic. According to Deke Cateau, CEO of A.G. Rhodes, which operates nursing care facilities in Atlanta, about 5,000 nursing home staffers left during the pandemic, and there is not enough supply of registered nurses to meet demand.

The CMS estimates that implementing these new requirements could cost up to $6 billion a year, with no federal funding provided to support the additional staffing costs. Nursing care company owners or facilities will have to cover these costs themselves. The rules will be phased in over five years, giving rural nursing care facilities more time to staff up.

Despite some opposition from industry representatives, others support the minimum staffing mandate. Melanie McNeil, Georgia's long-term care ombudsman, believes that staffing minimums are essential to address common complaints about slow staff response times and inadequate care for residents with complex needs.