Bill: Staffing Standards

EXPECT A STAFFING STANDARDS BILL THIS WEEK

Democratic members of Congress plan to introduce a bill this week that would require nursing homes to maintain minimum staffing levels. The Nursing Home Staffing Improvement Act of 2002 calls for Medicare- and Medicaid-funded facilities to provide between 4.1 and 4.85 hours of nursing care to each resident per day, according to U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky's (D-IL) press release. The bill also recommends additional funding to support staffing standards, but authorizes extra scrutiny of nursing home finances to make sure the funds are going toward hiring more staff. Democrats announced the bill after consumers met May 9 with members of Congress to express their concerns over lack of adequate staffing in nursing homes. Quoting from the recent Bush Administration report that nine out of 10 nursing homes do not have adequate staff to provide the best care, citizens presented petitions with more than 100,000 signatures to demand staffing standards.


To check if your facility meets or already exceed this proposed standard go to…

http://www.medicare.gov/NHCompare/home.asp#NewSearch

Select State..,.. click on Next Step
Select County … click Search by County
Click on box of your Facility’s name… go down bottom page and click on Next Step
Click on Nursing Staff