Unless Congress makes a legislative change, a ruling against North Dakota's nursing home industry by the federal Health Care Financing Administration will stand. The ruling means the state's 457 resident assistants will not be qualified to work in nursing homes any more. Removing the job of resident assistants from the roster would effectively slam North Dakota's nursing home industry into a tailspin because there are already 1,000 unfilled CNA and RA positions, according to the Long Term Care Association.
Nursing homes hire nurses to provide direct medical care to patients.
They also employ certified nursing assistants who give direct personal care and resident assistants who provide less-direct forms of care. Resident assistants help to feed residents, hand out snacks and water, sit with residents and walk with them. Certified nursing assistants, on the other hand, help residents with more hands-on things like personal hygiene, bathing, assisting to the rest room, walking and mobility improvement, dressing, brushing teeth and combing hair. Moving from an RA to a CNA job requires an extra 75 hours of training. Baptist Home Director of Nursing Grant Wilz said the resident assistant position is essential for several reasons.