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View All ProductsMitigate risk and elevate your quality of care. Improving both clinical and business outcomes starts with a smarter, more integrated approach to regulatory training, continuing education and quality management.
Learn MoreHealthcare is an industry in the midst of transformation driven by demographic change, financial instability, and technological advance, not to mention the immediate issue and yet to be determined ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many non-hospital organizations across the care continuum are reeling from challenges to how they have long operated. Not only is it becoming harder and harder to retain employees, but everyone in healthcare needs more staff to care for our aging population. At the same time, government oversight and the wide range of measures aimed at improving the quality of care are not likely to go away anytime soon.
Staffing levels are one of the most important determinants of whether a long-term care facility is providing adequate care. However, many nursing homes have employee coverage issues and are failing the meet the CMS requirement “that a registered nurse be on-site at least eight hours every day” (Rau & Lucas, 2019). To verify staffing levels as part of the ratings effort for the Nursing Home Compare Website, CMS now requires facilities to submit their payroll records. A Kaiser investigation found that “nursing homes had fewer nurses and caretaking staff than they had reported to the government, according to new federal data, bolstering the long-held suspicions of many families that staffing levels were often inadequate” (Rau, 2018).
Understaffing is extremely important, as it “can indirectly cause nursing home abuse because overwhelmed and underpaid nursing home staff members and caregivers are more likely to be abusive to a nursing home resident” (Nursing Home Abuse Center, 2019). Inadvertent neglect is a natural product of understaffing—residents are dependent on caregivers who are stretched too thin. Increased psychological problems may result, as well as physiological conditions. The reasons for understaffing are varied—it may be intentional on the part of some organizations as a strategy to reduce labor costs. Nursing facilities also may have a serious problem finding and retaining adequately trained nurses. High turnover among staff results in a greater burden on those who stay, leading to stress and burnout. Payroll records submitted to Nursing Home Compare “reveal frequent and significant fluctuations in day-to-day staffing, with particularly large shortfalls on weekends” (Rau, 2018).
Nursing Home Abuse Center, “Understaffing in the Nursing Home,” November 14, 2019, Retrieved at https://www.nursinghomeabusecenter.com/ nursing-home-neglect/understaffing/.
Rau, J., “Most nursing homes are not adequately staffed, new federal data says,” PBS Newshour, July 13, 2018, Retrieved at https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/most-nursing-homes-are-not-adequately-staffed-new-federal-data-says.
Rau, J., and Lucas, E., “Short-Staffed Nursing Homes See Drop In Medicare Ratings,” Kaiser Health News, May 3, 2019, Retrieved at https://khn.org/ news/short-staffed-nursing-homes-see-drop-in-medicare-ratings/.
This blog post begins a series based on our article, Top Issues Across the Care Continuum, which looks more closely at some of the serious concerns of healthcare organizations across the care continuum. Subsequent challenges to be examined include:
There is a long list of challenges for providers across the care continuum, outside of acute care. For example, with consistent wage pressures, shifting compliance regulations, and rising acuity levels among resident populations, the skilled nursing and LTC workforce is feeling more pressure than ever before. HealthStream works with organizations throughout non-acute care to address these challenges, from keeping pace with regulatory requirements to engaging and developing competent staff who can satisfy the demands of increased patient complexity. By partnering with HealthStream, organizations are equipped to seamlessly manage the pressures of surveyor visits, while remaining focused on high-quality patient and resident care. Learn more about Healthstream solutions for non-acute care organizations.
When you enact HealthStream's quality compliance solutions, you can do so with the confidence your healthcare organization will meet all standards of care.
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View All Learning & PerformanceHealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
View All ProductsHealthStream works with healthcare organizations to create engaging and high-quality training videos for your staff and management.
View All ProductsImprove care quality and save money by making informed decisions about your healthcare facility and staff with HealthStream's reporting analytics solution.
View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsUtilize patient access solutions and advanced reimbursement solutions to manage clinical denials and improve your organization’s reimbursement strategy.
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View All ProductsOur competency development solutions personalize learning for clinicians to bridge the gap between theory and practice for your nurse residents.
View All ProductsEnhance maternal & child nursing care with solutions focused on improving the quality of care for mothers, infants, and children.
View All ProductsAddress staffing orientation challenges to easily achieve and maintain certification with our emergency and acute care training solutions.
View All ProductsAs a premier provider of healthcare education, we are committed to promoting safer, more successful surgical and sedation outcomes for each and every patient.
View All ProductsOur solutions are designed to cater to the needs of patients, healthcare professionals, and organizations dealing with illnesses or chronic conditions.
View All ProductsMake sure your healthcare staff can schedule out appointments and work schedules with ease using HealthStream's line of software solutions.
View All SchedulingHealthcare workforce management is essential. We provide advanced scheduling solutions for organizations to solve issues such as nurse retention
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