CMS has added data about the level of weekend RN staffing and total nurse staffing (e.g., RN, LPN, and CNA), reported in terms of the average number of RN and total nurse hours worked per resident per day on weekends. As presented, the data compares a specific facility’s weekend staffing to the national average and the Kansas average.
Second, Care Compare now also displays turnover data, as shown by:
- The percent of nurse staff that left the facility over the last year;
- The percent of total nurse staff that has left the facility over the last year; and
- The number of administrators that have left the facility over the last year.
The website explains the data this way: “Staff turnover is the percent of nursing staff or number of administrators that stop working in a facility within a given year. Low turnover indicates that facilities generally retain their staff for longer periods. Lower turnover is preferred because staff who work in facilities for longer periods may become more familiar with the residents and the facility’s operating procedures.”
LeadingAge sent a letter to CMS advocating to delay posting data on nursing home staffing and implementing staffing quality measures until later this year. LeadingAge has heard from members across the country that this action by CMS will do nothing but unnecessarily subject nursing homes to public scrutiny and criticism over a problem that impacts the entire economy. Excerpt from letter:
“Workforce needs are at crisis levels in many sectors of our economy. Yet nursing homes, for a variety of reasons, often face extreme scrutiny over staffing,” the letter noted. “Our workforce challenges are no secret and posting fresh data on staffing needs in nursing homes will not solve the problem. We assure you that our mission-driven providers would be happy to hire qualified staff so that the Director of Nursing could stop doing med pass and the Administrator could stop taking on additional shifts to relieve her CNA staff. The workers are simply not there. Do not single out nursing homes by highlighting a problem that impacts every sector.”
We encourage each of our members that provide nursing home care to check its Care Compare profile to gain visibility into how the data is displayed and confirm its accuracy.
