With a shifted focus, facilities have begun to navigate the new normalcy of the Healthcare Staffing industry—a focus filled with a heightened sense of responsibility for priorities such as financial sustainability and clinician quality amidst an unbalanced, ever-evolving market.

ACHCA highlights member, Sherri Gunasekera, LNHA, MHA, MSN, RN-BC, LNC, and her medication aide training workshops with facility RNs and AITs. Sherri teaches the only Medication Aide program in Southwest Ohio. Her training workshops instruct registered nurses and administrators-in-training on how to start their own Medication Aide programs in their facility.

Nurse staffing shortages have escalated nationwide to such an extreme level they are now labeled a staffing crisis. Skilled nursing facilities have implemented wait lists, declined new admissions, and even closed units as a result of the staffing crisis.

While the nation is currently gripped by the pandemic, long-term care providers will absorb the ripple effects of the staffing crisis for years to come. Industry experts anticipate providers will see declined reimbursement, as well as increased federal auditing due to use of PHE waivers. In addition, providers should expect to see Five Star rating reductions for survey non-compliance related to infection control surveys, with zero tolerance resulting in immediate jeopardy tags. Five Star ratings for staffing may see effects from burnout, vaccine mandates and other constraints placed on healthcare workers.