“The energy and the empowerment that NAHCA has given to our state has truly enhanced the depth of membership and the work that we do as a state association.”
“The energy and the empowerment that NAHCA has given to our state has truly enhanced the depth of membership and the work that we do as a state association.”
“The energy and the empowerment that NAHCA has given to our state has truly enhanced the depth of membership and the work that we do as a state association.”
“When you have satisfied and content CNAs, the care is better, and you’re going to have less nursing assistant turnover.”
NAHCA CNA
Press Releases
August 23 , 2022
NAHCA was pleased to see CNA education and training as a focus in a new informational bulletin issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Among other things, CMS encourages states to work with the agency and facilities to determine if there are any costs – such as those for continuing education training for CNAs – that can be included in the payment rate for Medicaid services.
The federal agency also urges states to seek out other solutions to training and testing capacity issues within the nursing facilities through collaboration with the states’ Departments of Public Health that certify Nurse Aide Training and Competency Programs (NATCEPs) to promote funded training opportunities for nursing facility staff. (read more)
April 7 , 2022
The National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA), representing more than 26,000 Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) across the country who provide life sustaining care to the nation’s frail and elderly, released the following statement today in response to t he National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report, “ The National Imperative to Improve Nursing Home Quality: Honoring Our Commitment to Residents, Families, and Staff,” released earlier this week.
This statement is attributable to Lori Porter, co – founder and CEO of NAHCA: “As we continue our efforts to advocate for Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) amid an historical staffing crisis, we applaud the NASEM report and the work of the committee that produced it. This publication serves a s a declaration and call to action that something must change in response to how CNAs and other direct care staff have been treated in this field for many years. Without adequate and appropriate staffing there simply cannot be high – quality care. And every citizen of this country deserves to have care that is nothing short of high – quality and person – centered.
“The report verifies what we have been saying for years: to successfully recruit and retain a high – quality nursing home Careforce , there must be competitive compensation (as opposed to ‘adequate’ compensation) coupled with incentives and supports that honor and elevate the recognition and work of CNAs. (read more)
NAHCA Responds to CMS
April 7 , 2022
The National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA), representing more than 26,000 Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) across the country who provide life sustaining care to the nation’s frail and elderly, released the following statement today in response to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) announcement that it will be phasing out some temporary waivers linked to the public health emergency (PHE), including the temporary nursing aide (TNA) program.
This statement is attributable to Lori Porter, co-founder and CEO of NAHCA:
“NAHCA has always supported efforts to bring more qualified staff, including nursing assistants, into post-acute and long-term care settings. However, we have long been concerned about bringing in nursing assistants without appropriate training. (read more)
March 4, 2022
The biggest challenge to CNAs’ jobs is the impact of the current staffing shortage, according to the results of a new survey from t he National Association of Health Care Assistants ( NAHCA ) , the professional association for Certified Nursing Assistants ( CNAs ).
The survey, which yielded nearly 650 responses , consisted of eight questions centering on the work of CNAs as they contend with the many challenges they face due to the pandemic and ensuing staffing shortages.
CNAs were asked to provide feedback on the ir biggest on – the – job challenges, reasons for leaving , or wanting to leave , their jobs, as well as what it would take for long – term and post – acute care employers to hire them back. The survey also asked respondents to report the staffing ratios they experience on their shifts and to describe concerns about their work.
The following results offer a window into what underpins the CNA staffing crisis and how it is affecting care today : (read more)
National CNA Association Reacts to
CMS Comments on Vaccine Mandate
August 26, 2021
President Biden’s recent COVID vaccine mandate for skilled nursing facilities receiving Medicare or Medicaid payments has spurred considerable conversation and debate. Many high-profile officials are weighing in with support of this policy. NAHCA reiterates their commitment to CNAs and residents alike.
On Wednesday, August 25th, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) held a nursing home stakeholders call to discuss the COVID-19 vaccination mandate for nursing home staff. On that call the deputy director of CMS’s Center for Clinical Standards and Quality Jean Moody-Williams indicated that the vaccine requirement would “really level the playing field.” The National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA), in fact, believes it would do the opposite. Leveling the playing field would mean requiring all Medicare- and Medicaid-certified health care entities to mandate the vaccine. This is important as some health and hospitals are already advertising to recruit staff on social media indicating “vaccine optional.”“In addition to non-vaccine requiring health care employers poaching the staff from nursing homes, nursing homes frequently send their residents out to hospitals and treatment centers; and without blanket health care vaccination requirements, the residents could be exposed by a non-vaccinated health care worker in one of those settings,” said Lori Porter, Co-Founder and CEO of NAHCA. “Only requiring nursing homes to mandate is like trying to fix your broken bicycle while riding it. Residents will be exposed and continue to bring the virus back into the nursing homes.” One CMS official on the recent provider call said that “those who are looking for a workplace without a vaccine mandate are running out of options.” NAHCA also disagrees with this assessment. In reality, Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) aren’t running out of options at all.
In fact, as Ms. Porter noted, “Many employers in other sectors such as retail do not require the vaccine, they pay more than the CNA starting wage; and some have also enhanced their benefit packages to include enticements such as college tuition and health care insurance. So CNAs have options in other sectors, and we must be prepared to lose many dedicated professionals.” The nursing home staff vaccine mandate is clearly intended to protect the residents, but it falls short of doing so due to the patchwork of vaccine requirements among employers. NAHCA believes that it ultimately will jeopardize the residents by creating an even greater shortage of CNAs available to provide the life-sustaining care they so desperately need and deserve – yet still expose vulnerable residents to COVID-19.
NAHCA Responds to POTUS Decision To
Mandate Nursing Home Staff Vaccinations
August 20, 2021
While we recognize and understand the reasons behind President Biden’s decision, mandating all nursing home staff to be vaccinated is only part of a complex issue that must be addressed. Nursing homes are now allowing visits from families, volunteers, and vendors, many of whom may not be required to be vaccinated. Ensuring the safety of residents would include vaccination mandates among these groups as well.
We believe that credible education and open dialogue with trusted individuals, as well as addressing the underlying issues that CNAs have faced for the entirety of their careers, will give them more confidence in the vaccines. Taking these steps will help to mitigate the impact on an already unstable workforce.
Our members remain loyal to serving and protecting vulnerable elders and those with disabilities. Whether they choose to be vaccinated and stay in their profession or remain unvaccinated and leave, either choice is about protecting residents.
NAHCA’s Statement on Nursing Home
Improvement and Accountability Act of 2021
August 16, 2021
The National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA) thanks Senators Wyden, Casey, Blumenthal, Bennet, Whitehouse, and Brown for introducing the Nursing Home Improvement and Accountability Act of 2021. The basis of this legislation is to increase transparency, accountability, and oversight in nursing homes; improve staffing; and support innovation in the structure and culture of these facilities, all of which have never been more critical.
NAHCA specifically supports the bill’s references to raising staff wages, improving quality care due to increased staffing, and creating approaches such as staff-investment demonstration programs to bring new solutions to complex issues. We are pleased to see the legislation call for Congress to invest $50 million to study the appropriateness of establishing minimum staff-to-resident ratios in skilled nursing and updating those standards every five years.
It is important to note that COVID-19 has exposed the persistent staffing crisis and spotlighted the urgent need to increase direct caregiver staffing in America’s post-acute and long-term care (PALTC) centers, and time is of the essence for such solutions. This legislation, as it is currently written, does not address the need for timely results. In fact, the standards it proposes could take nearly three years to be enacted; and it is unclear if there would be funding to support these standards and initiatives to recruit and retain high quality staff. NAHCA urges Congress to make solving this staffing crisis a top priority, including the enactment of long- and short-term solutions and the coordination of a national strategy to recruit new health care professionals into the workforce.
Our certified nursing assistant (CNA) members take pride in their profession and welcome Congressional action that supports their efforts. They hope to be included in conversations about these critical issues moving forward.
NAHCA Issues Statement on COVID-19
Vaccinations for Certified Nursing Assistants
August 12, 2021
Following much deliberation and consideration about COVID-19 and the rise of its variants, the National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA) remains divided on the issue of supporting across-the-board vaccine mandates for all aging services employees. While NAHCA urges all frontline staff caring for elders to get vaccinated, the organization also recognizes the significant division on the question of vaccinations among its membership.
As the only national organization that represents Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs), NAHCA and its Board of Directors acknowledges that there is solid evidence to support the safety and efficacy of the vaccinations. However, among NAHCA’s membership of more than 26,000 CNAs, a significant number remain hesitant to get vaccinated. Following are the underlying reasons for this hesitancy:
**Insufficient efforts to educate and build confidence in the vaccine among the public, as well as among frontline staff;
**Confusing and mixed messages from leadership at federal, state, and local government entities;
**Widespread lack of support throughout the pandemic in the form of PPE and other measures that could have better protected CNAs and the elders they care for;
**Chronic underfunding and understaffing in nursing homes that sometimes leads to substandard care and difficult and dangerous working conditions; and
A long history of poor benefits and pay that in many cases do not amount to a living wage.“We recognize and respect employers’ rights to require COVID-19 vaccines for its employees, as long as they are implemented in accordance with federal and state laws and adhere to appropriate exemptions for those with medical conditions or religious objections,” says Sherry Perry, chair of the NAHCA Board of Directors. “However, it is our position that more must be done not only to address CNAs’ concerns about the vaccine, but also to improve the underlying issues that these dedicated frontline care staff have faced for the entirety of their careers.”NAHCA believes that by addressing these issues through credible education and open dialogue with trusted individuals and entities, more CNAs will be inclined to be inoculated. The organization is committed to building confidence in the vaccines among CNAs through the following efforts:
1. The creation of educational resources in consultation with thought leaders in the field who are committed to sincere and substantive dialogue with CNAs;
2. Strategic communication tools, such as videos and testimonials that tell the stories of CNAs’ journeys from hesitancy to vaccination;
3. Research aimed at building vaccine confidence and raising immunization rates among frontline health care staff.
“It’s about time for employers, payers, and policy makers to recognize that marginalizing CNAs for so long has its consequences,” adds Lori Porter, NAHCA founder and CEO. “In this case, those consequences have led to mistrust of those in authority and confusion around what is best for CNAs and for the elders they serve. Is it any wonder that so many are hesitant about getting vaccinated?”
NAHCA’s Lori Porter Issues Statement Following
Senate HELP Committee Hearing on Workforce Shortages in Health Care
May 21, 2021
The National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA), representing more than 26,000 certified nursing assistants (CNAs) working in America’s post- acute and long-term-care (PALTC) settings, applauds the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) for their May 20 hearing addressing critical workforce shortages in many health care professions and settings.
The following statement is attributed to Lori Porter, co- founder and CEO of NAHCA, regarding the hearing:
“We at NAHCA, would like to thank Sens. Bernie Sanders and Susan Collins for convening such an important discussion regarding widespread staffing issues in hospitals, nursing homes, and other PALTC settings. I am especially grateful to Sen. Collins for mentioning the need for more nursing assistants and expressing concern about how low Medicaid reimbursements rates greatly impede health care settings’ ability to secure adequate skilled professionals such as physicians, CNAs, and other caregivers. Yesterday’s hearing was a good start toward addressing important workforce issues surrounding our entire health care system. We believe there is much more to the story regarding this growing crisis, especially with regard to CNAs and other frontline staff. It is our hope that Congress will do what is right and soon hold hearings that focus on these skilled professionals, who play an integral role in rendering care in settings that care for our nation’s elders.
“Our CNA members have been on the frontlines of the global COVID-19 pandemic for more than a year, handling over 90% of the direct patient care. Their work has a significant impact on quality of life for those in their care. The CNA shortage in PALTC settings is massive. It was massive before the pandemic and COVID has made it worse. This must be addressed, and CNAs must be a priority for those on Capitol Hill in order to ensure quality care for our nation’s most frail. CNAs deserve more than only being mentioned one time in a nearly two-hour hearing about ‘dire workforce shortages.’ CNAs, like other health care professionals, need to be included in all dialogue moving forward.”
For more information on NAHCA’s position on the CNA workforce shortage and proposed solutions to resolving it, please contact Dane Henning, director of government affairs at dhenning@nahcacna.org.
Also, below is the link to the HELP committee hearing. https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/a-dire-shortage-and-getting-worse-solving-the-crisis-in- the-health-care-workforce
Statement on CNA Duty During Pandemic
December 23, 2020
The Board of Directors of National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA) made the following statement on each Certified Nursing Assistant’s (CNA’s) role and responsibility during the COVID-19 pandemic: “The Board of Directors of The National Association of Healthcare Assistants supports and encourages all CNAs to follow all COVID-19 safety protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19. … (read more)
Commission for Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes Report
9/17/2020
The following is a statement from Lori Porter, Co-Founder and CEO of the National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA): The release of the Coronavirus Commission for Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes report represents a significant accomplishment for the stakeholders involved in creating it and for the entities involved in bringing it to fruition. It was truly an honor to serve on this panel with such esteemed individuals. I am grateful for the opportunity to be a voice for certified nursing assistants (CNAs) and to bring to light the many issues confronting them as they continue to work on the frontlines in a battle against COVID-19 and beyond.
Although I support this report, I have done so with reservations about the Workforce Ecosystem. Specifically, NAHCA supports government funded staffing requirements for CNAs in nursing homes. … ( read more )
9/20/2020
The National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA) and CNAs for Quality Care will hold the first-ever CNA Staffing Summit on Oct. 20, 2020, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern. Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School, David Grabowski, Ph.D., will present the state of the research on COVID-19 and direct care staff. Since the outbreak, Grabowski has extensively studied the virus’ impacts on nursing homes, testified twice before Congress, written op-eds, and served on the Coronavirus Commission for Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes. … ( read more )
9/20/2020
The National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA) and CNAs for Quality Care will hold the first-ever CNA Staffing Summit on Oct. 20, 2020, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern. This virtual event will convene nursing home operators, administrators, nursing staff, directors of nursing, HR professionals, recruiters, and more so that everyone can learn from CNAs — as well as from each other—with the objective of creating a more unified workforce. Chairman and CEO of Sabra Health Care REIT … ( read more )
5/14/2020
The National Association of Health Care Assistants, NAHCA, an organization with over 20,000 members working as CNAs primarily in the nation’s nursing homes and long term care facilities, issued the following statement after MITRE released the appointed members of the newly- formed Coronavirus Commission for Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes. … ( read more )
Mark Parkinson Gives CNAs on
4/5/2020
Mark Parkinson, President and CEO, American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living, and the former governor of Kansas. I know as a former Governor, when you are in a crisis you need people to step up. You need people to be heroes, and I’m here today to join NAHCA and all of our friends at NAHCA to say, Our Frontline caregivers you are CNAs, you are our heroes. … ( listen here )
2/23/2017
The National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA) is saddened and sickened by the CNN investigative report on sexual assault in this nation’s nursing homes. As an organization promoting on- going education and a CNA Code of Ethics, NAHCA is resolute in the fight against resident abuse of any form. NAHCA supports the Elder Justice Act and the maximum punishment for those committing any form of abuse and those failing to act on resident complaints of abuse. ( read more )
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Nursing Home Workers
Had One of the Deadliest Jobs of 2020
An analysis of incomplete data shows they had a death rate higher than that of loggers, and may have rivaled fishers for most perilous profession
Feb. 18, 2021 – Scientific American – by Tanya Lewis
When you think of the most dangerous jobs in the U.S., you might imagine something like logging, fishing or truck driving. But in 2020 one of the deadliest professions of all did not involve operating heavy machinery, braving the elements or driving big rigs—but rather caring for the elderly.
When you think of the most dangerous jobs in the U.S., you might imagine something like logging, fishing or truck driving.
But in 2020 one of the deadliest professions of all did not involve operating heavy machinery, braving the elements or driving big rigs—but rather caring for the elderly.
As COVID-19 swept across the world last year, death rates among nursing home staff ranked among the highest for any job in the U.S., based on a Scientific American analysis of data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the CMS, which sets quality standards for skilled nursing facilities, only started requiring nursing homes to report such deaths in May 2020—just after last spring’s devastating peak in COVID deaths in parts of the country. So the calculated death rate is almost certainly an undercount, says Judith Chevalier, a Yale University professor of finance and economics who helped analyze the data.
The pandemic’s high toll among nursing home residents is well known, but the impact on staff has been far less visible. Workers in skilled nursing facilities had at least 80 deaths per 100,000 full-time employees last year. This estimate was calculated by dividing the total deaths among nursing home staff reported to the CMS from May 17 through December 27, 2020, by the total number of people who work at such facilities, as reported by the BLS. In comparison, fishers and related workers had 145 deaths per 100,000 people in 2019, according to data from the BLS. Loggers had 68.9 deaths per 100,000 people in the same year. Given that the CMS data for 2020 were only reported from last May onward, the full year’s actual death rate for nursing home staff may have approached or even exceeded that of fishers.
Inside nursing homes, certified nursing assistants, or CNAs, perform some of the most important—and often thankless—work. It can include feeding nursing home residents, bathing them and turning them over so they do not get bedsores. Yet many of these workers are paid minimum wage and often have little or no sick leave, says Lori Porter, co-founder and chief executive officer of the National Association of Health Care Assistants, an organization that represents CNAs. Additionally, nursing homes were chronically understaffed and underfunded even before the pandemic. So when COVID hit, many of them were vastly unprepared. They lacked personal protective equipment (PPE), adequate infectious disease training, access to frequent testing and backup staff to cover for sick employees. As a result, these facilities have been among the communities hit hardest by the pandemic.
“If COVID has had a positive [effect] on anything, it’s that it’s no longer nursing homes’ dirty little secret—it’s America’s—that we don’t take care of our old people,” Porter says. “That’s the real story…. Why are we warehousing our old people in human filing cabinets?”
Last summer Porter, a former CNA herself, served on the Coronavirus Commission on Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes … (read more)
Revised COVID-19 guidance from
OSHA coming under executive order
Feb. 1, 2021 – Skilled Nursing News – by Maggie Flynn
When the effort to vaccinate long-term care workers and residents began to gather momentum, hesitancy among workers became a prominent issue well before the first shots were administered.
The issue of whether or not workers — burned out by the ongoing tragedy of resident and staff deaths from COVID-19, personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages, and ongoing slow or bungled responses to the crisis by both federal and state governments — would trust the institutions now telling them to take a vaccine came up in December, shortly before the first COVID-19 vaccine received its emergency use authorization (EUA).
Touchstone Communities, which is based in San Antonio and has 28 skilled nursing facilities in the state of Texas, saw the ebb and flow of emotions around the vaccine play out even before the EUA was granted. When news of progress on the vaccines began to trickle out over the course of the summer of 2020, the initial reaction of staff members was quite optimistic, Touchstone COO Leslie Cunningham Campbell told Skilled Nursing News in an interview on January 25…
…“My concern is not necessarily the vaccine, if it’s proven safe,” Lori Porter, the CEO and co-founder of the National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA), told SNN on December 2. “My fear is that if we don’t educate them, if we allow the facilities to provide the education on the vaccine, there is a trust issue. CNAs do not trust their leaders.”
On February 1, the CDC released a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) that confirmed a wide disparity in vaccine uptake between residents and staff. Out of 11,460 SNFs with at least one vaccination clinic conducted during the first month of the CDC’s Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program, a median of 77.8% of residents had at least one dose — compared with a median of 37.5% of staff members. … (read more)
CNA WORKFORCE
at a breaking point
Jan. 27, 2021 – McKnight’s Long-Term Care News – by Danielle Brown
COVID-19 is now responsible for the deaths of more than 100,000 residents and staff in the 15,000 nursing homes in this country. I’ve been in this field 40 years —as a certified nursing assistant, an administrator, company executive and now as head of NAHCA — and I have never seen so many CNAs feel as helpless, hopeless and terrified as they have been since March.
Yet, here we are in the third wave of this invisible enemy, and CNAs are STILL in the same position they were in back then. They still feel helpless, hopeless and terrified. What is different now is that many more of them are dead or sick from COVID-19. Many have left their jobs in fear of getting the virus or in frustration from not having enough PPE to protect them. Some have been forced to use up their sick-time or other leave because of quarantine requirements after an exposure, and many more are still making an average of $13 per hour but caring for more residents on their shifts than they were pre-pandemic.
As I write, one of my board members — a CNA at the same nursing home for the last 25 years — lies in her bed at home, gravely ill with COVID-19 and without pay. Before she fell ill, she had already used her paid leave due to quarantine requirements, and now she must bear the brunt of the expense of this savage virus because she cared so deeply for the elders she serves. She is paid so little that she cannot afford insurance. The media has tried to cover this crisis with some objectivity, but many outlets have placed blame at the hands of nursing home owners and operators, which is where it truly does not belong. The root of the problem is an ageist and outdated system of care that does not value elders nor the people who care for them.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the measly Medicaid rates that Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and state governments pay to reimburse nursing homes.
Lori Porter is the CEO of the National Association of Health Care Assistants. She started her career as a CNA and later became a licensed nursing home administrator and regional operations director for 10 skilled nursing centers before co-founding NAHCA. Porter is the author of “Everything I Learned in Life I Learned in Long Term Care” and served on the 2020 White House Task Force’s Coronavirus Commission on Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes. … (read more)
Revised COVID-19 guidance from
OSHA coming under executive order
Jan. 27, 2021 – McKnight’s Long-Term Care News – by Danielle Brown
New pandemic guidance on healthcare workplace safety could provide more clarity for providers and workers in long-term care, according to a leading expert.
President Joe Biden late last week signed an executive order directing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue revised guidance to employers on workplace safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. The order calls on the agency to issue the revisions to employers within the next two weeks and to consider whether any emergency temporary standards are necessary.
Workers in long-term care, particularly certified nursing assistants, are one board with the move, according to Lori Porter, co-founder and CEO of the National Association of Health Care Assistants.
“CNAs, on the whole, would welcome anything that would create an atmosphere for the protection of themselves against the spread of COVID-19,” Porter told McKnight’s Long-Term Care News on Tuesday.
Porter explained that current guidance doesn’t address possible provider penalties. She noted that it also doesn’t account for how different long-term care is from other types of healthcare industries.
“One of the things that will be interesting is the staffing ratios, in terms of will they take into account the resident-to-certified nursing assistant staffing ratio as it pertains to workplace safety and health and safety?” she said. “That is what will remain to be seen.”
Porter stated that unclear sufficient staffing ratio measures from the federal level swats at potential solutions to address the issue. She said “that will likely have to be defined if it’s really going to be applicable to OSHA and skilled nursing.” … (read more)
Nursing Home Providers Split
on Post-Vaccine Visitation Plans
Jan. 24, 2021 – Skilled Nursing News – by Alex Spanko
After the physical health and safety of residents and workers, the prospect of normal visitation looms as the top promise of a smooth rollout of COVID-19 vaccines to the nation’s nursing homes. But operators will likely not make any moves until they’re given the all-clear by state and federal regulators, with a significant percentage planning to require vaccinations for all visitors before reopening their doors to family and friends. Just about half of respondents to a recent online Skilled Nursing News poll said they would mandate proof of vaccination for potential visitors, while a nearly equal number said they would not.
The relative lack of enthusiasm among frontline caregivers to receive the vaccine has been the primary story of the mass inoculation effort so far. Even before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency authorization to the Pfizer and Moderna shots in December, leaders sounded the alarm about the deep skepticism they were hearing among rank-and-file nursing home employees.
Touchstone Communities, which is based in San Antonio and has 28 skilled nursing facilities in the state of Texas, saw the ebb and flow of emotions around the vaccine play out even before the EUA was granted. When news of progress on the vaccines began to trickle out over the course of the summer of 2020, the initial reaction of staff members was quite optimistic, Touchstone COO Leslie Cunningham Campbell told Skilled Nursing News in an interview on January 25…
Lori Porter, CEO and co-founder of the National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA), framed it as a matter of trust in a December interview with SNN: After having watched their residents and coworkers die over the past year, while also struggling with shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) and constant worries about their own physical and mental health, many nursing home workers have lost faith in the institutions now telling them that the vaccines are safe and necessary.
“My concern is not necessarily the vaccine, if it’s proven safe,” Porter told SNN. “My fear is that if we don’t educate them, if we allow the facilities to provide the education on the vaccine, there is a trust issue. CNAs do not trust their leaders.” … (read more)
Cash, Breakfasts and Firings:
An All-Out Push to Vaccinate Wary Medical Workers
Some staff in hospitals and long-term care facilities don’t want to take the Covid-19 vaccine. Their employers are trying to change their minds.
Jan. 14, 2021 – The New York Times – by Rebecca Robbins, Sabrina Tavernise and Sharon Otterman
10 Steps to Reform
and Improve Nursing Homes
Expert insights on how the industry should evolve in response to CO
Jan. 13, 2021 – AARP – by Sari Harrar, Joe Eaton and Harris Meyer
It’s complicated. This phrase has become the default and arguably lazy response to many 21st-century challenges. But when it comes to finding ways to reform and improve America’s nursing homes, it is sadly accurate.
The roots of the long-term care industry’s problems are deeply tangled, as we reported in the December issue of the AARP Bulletin.
…A nursing home aide can be responsible for more than 20 residents on a shift. The job is physically and emotionally demanding, and lives can be at stake, yet the average wage is around $13 an hour. Requirements for the job vary by state. In most, workers complete a hands-on training course and a certified nursing assistant (CNA) program, which generally take from 75 hours of training to more than three months. But don’t be fooled by the terminology. State requirements to gain a hairstylist license are more demanding than for a CNA, says Lori Porter, cofounder and CEO of the National Association of Health Care Assistants. Now that COVID-19 restrictions have limited CNAs to working at just one facility, many are unable to afford basic living expenses. … (read more)
Executive Outlook 2021: Nursing Home Stigma
Will Linger ‘for Some Time’ — for Both
Residents and Staff
Jan. 10, 2021 – Skilled Nursing News – by Alex Spanko
If there’s been one recurring theme for SNN’s annual executive outlook, it’s the idea that putting 2020 to bed represents a chance to reset and move on past the worst year in the history of the post-acute and long-term space, both in the United States and around the world.
But that can only happen if the public and the frontline workers who serve our seniors believe that change is possible — and forthcoming.
The stories of admission declines and vaccine hesitancy among caregivers prove that trust in nursing homes has never been lower, and that coming back from a world-historic disaster won’t be a simple matter of flipping over a calendar page.
Lori Porter, CEO, National Association of Health Care Assistants
I — along with many, many others — am happy to see the year 2021 and have 2020 in the rearview. The last year was incredibly difficult on everyone, especially those in our field. The pandemic has been on a rampage through America’s nursing homes, wreaking havoc on our elders. However, the new year signifies a new beginning, a fresh start, and new opportunities. New opportunities often come with new challenges.
As co-founder and CEO of the association of and for certified nursing assistants (CNAs), my focus is lasered in on the front line. What was once a generally safe profession is now one of the most dangerous in America due to the pandemic. … (read more)
Nursing Home COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
Slow in Early Going, with 13% of
Shots Distributed
Jan. 5, 2021 – Skilled Nursing News – by Alex Spanko
Only about 13% of the first COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered to nursing home residents by the first business week of 2021, raising concerns about the rollout for both the elderly and the general public.
The federal government’s long-term care vaccination initiative has about 3.3 million total doses set aside, but just 429,066 had been administered in the setting as of January 5, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC); the latter figure represents just the first dose in the two-stage vaccination process. Around 17 million vaccine doses have been distributed nationwide, with about 4.8 million first rounds injected thus far, the CDC reported…
…Operators are also beginning to face predicted resistance to the vaccine among nursing home staff, who have spent the last 10 months on the front lines of a crisis that has shown no signs of abating. In Ohio, for instance, up to 60% of workers declined the vaccine, Gov. Mike DeWine indicated last week, despite more widespread acceptance among residents.
Lori Porter, CEO and co-founder of the National Association of Health Care Assistants, said last month that many of the certified nursing assistants (CNAs) that her organization represents have lost faith in institutions — including the government and their employers — after witnessing firsthand the COVID-19 disaster in long-term care.
“My concern is not necessarily the vaccine, if it’s proven safe,” Porter told SNN. “My fear is that if we don’t educate them, if we allow the facilities to provide the education on the vaccine, there is a trust issue. CNAs do not trust their leaders.” … (read more)
Shots are slow to reach arms as Trump administration
leaves final steps of mass vaccination to beleaguered states
Dec. 30, 2020 – Washington Post – by Isaac Stanley-Becker
In suburban Milwaukee, clinicians recently discarded 500 doses of coronavirus vaccine after vials were “intentionally” left unrefrigerated. In southeastern Arizona, a rural clinic has enough shots but too few employees lining up to take them. And on the coast of Maine, physicians have been left in the dark about when they will get vaccinated.
The largest immunization campaign in U.S. history is off to a slow start, dimming hopes, at the end of a dismal year, of an imminent return to normal.physicians have been left in the dark about when they will get vaccinated.
In some places, the vaccination campaign — among the most complex logistical efforts initiated in peacetime — has been marked by chaos and confusion. Many medical workers who believe they should have priority access are finding that inoculation remains elusive. And most states moved into the third week of immunization not yet beginning to get shots to long-term care facilities, which have been epicenters of infection……But hesitancy among nursing home staffers looms as a significant hurdle. Lori Porter, who leads the National Association of Health Care Assistants, said polling she has reviewed suggests a significant majority of people working in stricken facilities “are a hard no” on taking the vaccine. “Often, people have to see something before they can believe something, especially in this political climate,” she said, predicting at least moderate improvement as immunization becomes a reality across the country. … (read more)
Executive Outlook 2021: Nursing Home Stigma
Will Linger ‘for Some Time’ — for Both
Residents and Staff
Jan. 10, 2021 – Skilled Nursing News – by Alex Spanko
If there’s been one recurring theme for SNN’s annual executive outlook, it’s the idea that putting 2020 to bed represents a chance to reset and move on past the worst year in the history of the post-acute and long-term space, both in the United States and around the world.
But that can only happen if the public and the frontline workers who serve our seniors believe that change is possible — and forthcoming.
The stories of admission declines and vaccine hesitancy among caregivers prove that trust in nursing homes has never been lower, and that coming back from a world-historic disaster won’t be a simple matter of flipping over a calendar page.
Lori Porter, CEO, National Association of Health Care Assistants
I — along with many, many others — am happy to see the year 2021 and have 2020 in the rearview. The last year was incredibly difficult on everyone, especially those in our field. The pandemic has been on a rampage through America’s nursing homes, wreaking havoc on our elders. However, the new year signifies a new beginning, a fresh start, and new opportunities. New opportunities often come with new challenges.
As co-founder and CEO of the association of and for certified nursing assistants (CNAs), my focus is lasered in on the front line. What was once a generally safe profession is now one of the most dangerous in America due to the pandemic. … (read more)
Nursing Homes Grapple With Staff
Hesitant to Get the Covid-19 Vaccine
Dec. 22, 2020 – Skilled Nursing News – by Maggie Flynn
With two COVID-19 vaccines officially authorized for use, the immunization of health care workers and long-term care facility residents is finally underway in earnest. The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorizations (EUAs) to Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) COVID-19 vaccine on December 11 and to Moderna’s (Nasdaq: MRNA) on December 18. There are several considerations for skilled nursing facilities to take into account as they prepare for the inoculations, from how to handle staff concerns about taking the vaccine to preparing for the impact side effects could have on scheduling.
Vaccinating staff is the critical first step for facilities, from which all the other considerations about workflow and coordination will spring. A webinar held on December 17 tackled some of those considerations. Hosted by the National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA) and AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, the virtual event gave an overview of some of the concerns expressed by certified nursing assistants (CNAs), with questions and answers between frontline staff and long-term care physicians.
Ultimately, long-term care workers will not be forced to take COVID-19 vaccines, webinar speakers said, even though an advisory committee for the CDC recommended that health care workers and long-term care residents be first in line. “I’m not going to get up here and tell you that ‘You have got to take the shot, get the vaccine,’” Lori Porter, the CEO and co-founder of NAHCA, said during the webinar. “That is a choice you will have to make yourself.” … (read more)
Vaccine Push at Nursing
Homes Meets Resistance
Dec. 17, 2020 – Barrons.com – by Eleanor Laise
Sherry Perry has seen all the horrors of the pandemic. As a certified nursing assistant at a long-term care facility in Lebanon, Tenn., she has held a phone up to a window so a daughter could say goodbye to her dying father. She has watched residents die alone, not understanding why their families didn’t visit them in their final days. Earlier this month, she herself got Covid, suffering fever and chills, and passing out as she struggled to breathe.
As the Covid-19 vaccine arrives in long-term care facilities this month, however, Perry, who is also a board member of the National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA), says she and many of her co-workers are concerned about side effects and distrustful of the government.
As the Covid-19 vaccine arrives in long-term care facilities this month, however, Perry, who is also a board member of the National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA), says she and many of her co-workers are concerned about side effects and distrustful of the government.With a maximum of six paid sick days a year, she fears having to take unpaid time off. Her facility hasn’t told staff anything about the vaccine’s arrival, she says, and “that throws people into panic mode,” because they fear they’ll be pushed into taking a brand-new vaccine that they don’t fully understand.. … (read more)
Vaccination Campaign at Nursing
Homes Faces Obstacles and Confusion
Dec. 16, 2020 – The New York Times – by Rebecca Robbins and Jessica Silver-Greenberg
It promises to be a crucial milestone in America’s battle against a pandemic that has inflicted especially severe carnage on nursing homes. At least 106,000 residents and staff of long-term care facilities have died from the virus, accounting for 38 percent of the country’s Covid-related fatalities.
But even before it begins, the mass-vaccination campaign is facing serious obstacles that are worrying nursing home executives, industry watchdogs, elder-care lawyers and medical experts. They expect nursing homes to be the most challenging front in the mission to vaccinate Americans…
…“I don’t want to be a guinea pig,” said Sheena Bumpas, a certified nursing assistant at a home in Duncan, Okla. She is far from alone. When the National Association of Health Care Assistants, an advocacy group for caregivers, recently surveyed certified nursing assistants who work in long-term care facilities, nearly 72 percent of respondents said they do not want to receive the vaccine.
Lori Porter, the group’s co-founder and chief executive, said employees are also worried about what happens if they experience side effects — some participants in clinical trials experienced mild to moderate side effects — that force them to stay home. Ms. Porter said many nursing assistants had to use sick days to quarantine earlier in the pandemic and now have little or no paid sick leave left for 2020. … (read more)
Who’s to Blame for the
100,000 COVID Dead in Long-Term Care?
Dec. 3, 2020 – AARP.org
To understand who or what is to blame for the more than 100,000 deaths caused by the coronavirus among residents and staff of U.S. long-term care facilities between March and Thanksgiving, it’s useful to consider a devastating calamity that hit in 2005: Hurricane Katrina.
In the days, weeks and months after New Orleans was overwhelmed with flooding from the hurricane, critics pointed to the slow response from the federal government, decisions made by the city’s mayor and the state’s governor, a delay in engagement from the U.S. president, the greed and influence of private businesses, and even the stubbornness of the city’s residents as the causes for all the pain that had occurred.
Some level of truth. But in time, two simple but profound causes were ultimately found to be the root of what happened: bad infrastructure decisions that dated back decades—in New Orleans’ case, a poorly maintained, inadequate levee system — and a storm of such magnitude that once 23 of the levees were breached, little could be done to prevent 80 percent of the city from going underwater…
…In July, a report published by the National Bureau of Economic Research raised alarms about the common practice of care staff working in multiple facilities. Nursing homes with higher rates of shared staffing, the researchers found, had higher rates of infection. Limiting care staff to a single nursing home, they concluded, could reduce COVID-19 infections in facilities by 44 percent.
That’s no surprise to Lori Porter, cofounder of the National Association of Health Care Assistants, which represents many nursing home care workers. With an average wage of around $13 an hour, care workers often work at multiple nursing homes to make ends meet, Porter says. Many staffers don’t receive health insurance or paid sick leave, leading some to work even when they were experiencing coronavirus-type symptoms. “What did you think was going to happen?” Porter says. … (read more)
If There’s No Trust, There’ll
Be More Hesitancy’:
Nursing Homes Must Overcome
Staff Skepticism of COVID Vaccine
Dec. 2, 2020 – Skilled Nursing News – by Maggie Flynn
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was emphatic in a Tuesday meeting that it has the systems and processes in place to keep track of any adverse events from a COVID-19 vaccine, whenever one is approved.
Whether that is enough to quell the concerns of the health care workers and long-term care facility residents — whom the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) this week recommended should be first in line for immunization — is still an open question.
“There is hesitancy, of course,” Lori Porter, the CEO and co-founder of the National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA), told Skilled Nursing News on December 2. “Until we know if it’s mandated or not, we’re not really going to know exactly what’s going to happen. From what we can tell, the CDC won’t make it mandatory. It’ll be up to the states, and the states might pass it off to the facilities as more of an employer policy. So until we know what the outcome is, there is a great deal of hesitancy among CNAs [certified nursing assistants].” … (read more)
Lori Porter – On Transforming
Working Conditions for CNAs
Oct. 18, 2020 – Senior Living Foresight – by Steve Moran
Hands-heartIn response to COVID-19 and the disastrous impact it has had on nursing homes, the president established an independent body called the Coronavirus Commission on Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes. One of the members of the commission was Lori Porter the CEO of the National Association of Health Care Assistants.
some level of truth. But in time, two simple but profound causes were ultimately found to be the root of what happened: bad infrastructure decisions that dated back decades—in New Orleans’ case, a poorly maintained, inadequate levee system — and a storm of such magnitude that once 23 of the levees were breached, little could be done to prevent 80 percent of the city from going underwater…
…In July, a report published by the National Bureau of Economic Research raised alarms about the common practice of care staff working in multiple facilities. Nursing homes with higher rates of shared staffing, the researchers found, had higher rates of infection. Limiting care staff to a single nursing home, they concluded, could reduce COVID-19 infections in facilities by 44 percent.
That’s no surprise to Lori Porter, cofounder of the National Association of Health Care Assistants, which represents many nursing home care workers. With an average wage of around $13 an hour, care workers often work at multiple nursing homes to make ends meet, Porter says. Many staffers don’t receive health insurance or paid sick leave, leading some to work even when they were experiencing coronavirus-type symptoms. “What did you think was going to happen?” Porter says. … (read more)