In my editorial in the March issue, I ask, “Where do we go from here?'” in thinking about what’s next for nursing. In particular, I wonder if we’re going to make any strides in improving the quality of how we care for older adults who need long-term care.
Disasters give rise to assessments of what went wrong.
After prior disasters like hurricanes, heat waves, and flooding, there has often been a flurry of initial concern, with many committees convened to look at the deaths that occurred.
More recently, the New York Times has reported on the fate of nursing home residents during the Covid-19 pandemic in relation to the deterioration of quality in nursing homes once they are owned by for-profit entities—as 70% of nursing homes now are. So here we are once again, this time decrying the conditions revealed by Covid-19. Will things change this time?
In answer to this question, I’m especially pleased with the article in our March issue by 22 nurse gerontology experts. They issue a call (a challenge?) for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Coronavirus Commission for Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes to rewrite standards to finally address under-resourcing and ensure residents get the care they need and deserve:
“…despite 40 years of advocacy efforts, [there is a ] need for a federal mandate for a stronger presence of professional nurses in nursing homes,…chronic understaffing, lack of staff expertise in complex care problems, low pay coupled with little or no sick leave, inadequate training, and stigma have plagued the industry for years; and the shift from nonprofit to for-profit nursing home status has exacerbated these issues.”
Digging deeper into the realities and causes of nursing home dysfunction.
Early on in the pandemic, I spoke with Charlene Harrington, one of the authors of this article, about the dire situation that was unfolding—you can listen to the podcast here:
And if you need a real-world example, see the March Reflections column, in which a nurse describes the horrific conditions she found when she went to help as a volunteer during the pandemic.
Maybe this time, things might change for the better—but it requires more than wishful thinking.
if we are lucky, next years’ conference season should be packed with ‘lesson’s learned’ from COVID and innovative ideas on how to improve the populations health and the healthcare system!