A study of job leavers by the National Network of Career Nursing Assistants found that even those who like their jobs often resign because they cannot earn a sufficient income to support their families. Not surprisingly, most nursing homes are chronically understaffed. The average amount of total nursing care per resident-day in nursing homes is 3.2 hours. The National Citizens' Coalition for Nursing Home Reform recommends a minimum of 4.4 hours per day, depending on the caseload mix of the nursing home. This recommendation has been endorsed by several professional organizations in the field.
Training is minimal.
This training leaves aides unprepared to handle the specific problems of dementia, restorative care, depression, and other health issues, and doesn't give them time to develop the interpersonal, communication, and problem-solving skills needed to care for residents. How Government Creates Substandard Work Government policy is both the key problem and the potential solution. And yet our government has yet to accept responsibility for creating and maintaining literally thousands of poverty-level jobs. Some 60 percent of long-term care is financed by Medicaid and Medicare. Few people have private insurance that covers nursing home care, and such insurance is prohibitively expensive.