Nursing Home Staff Shortage a Big Concern in Colorado
We have talked so much over the past 10+ months about the negative effects this pandemic has had, especially on elderly people who are at higher risk of contracting the coronavirus and it causing serious damage. But what about all the nursing home employees as the pandemic continued there was an increasing trend of employees feeling overwhelmed and quitting their job or taking extended periods of time off because they tested positive for the virus.
The details were first reported by KRDO, with research done by a non-profit company CoPIRG who concluded that 55 nursing homes within the state of Colorado are understaffed, which could potentially affect the care that is being received by their 3,103 residents in those homes.
This trend of losing nursing home employees isn't just secluded to our home state of Colorado but this is a trend among all 15,000 nursing homes across the country.
The research was done by CoPIRG also showed that most nursing homes are doing everything possible to keep both staff and patients safe and comfortable by using personal protective equipment (PPE). It seemed like these staffing issues were slowing down toward the end of fall but the numbers continued to rise again after the Thanksgiving holiday and into December.
Many organizations are calling for the government to put policies in place to support nursing homes across the country with money for more equipment, to hire more staff, pay hazard pay, increase wages, and or put in some sort of bonus structure for employees.
A big thank you to all nursing home employees that are reading this, we appreciate the work that you do.