The following is an alert for the Q4 2021 staffing report. To access the report, click here.
June 9, 2022 – Registered nurses (RNs) serve a critical role in every nursing home staff. They provide expertise – infection control planning and management, resident assessment and care planning, and the identification and treatment of chronic and acute conditions – to help ensure the clinical, emotional, and psychosocial needs of every resident are being met. Studies consistently show that nursing homes with higher RN staffing have better resident outcomes. Unfortunately, most US nursing homes fail to provide sufficient RN staffing. Residents, families, and US taxpayers are paying the price.
Today, LTCCC announces the publication of the latest staffing data for every U.S. nursing home (in compliance with mandatory reporting requirements) during the fourth quarter of 2021. The federal data show that nursing homes are failing to provide sufficient staffing levels (3.61 Total Nurse Staff HPRD, incl. 0.61 RN Staff HPRD) to provide basic care needs for far too many of the nation’s 1.1 million nursing home residents.
Staffing Facts for Q4 2021
- Total RN Staff HPRD (0.61) dropped 11.9% from the first quarter to the fourth quarter of 2021 while Total Nurse Staff HPRD dropped 7.9% in that period.
- Nearly three in four (73.2%) nursing homes failed to meet the total care staff threshold (4.10 HPRD), as determined by a landmark 2001 federal study, while 69.6% of nursing homes failed to meet the RN staff threshold (0.75 HPRD) indicated by the study.
- Nursing homes are increasingly reliant on contract staff. Contract employees accounted for 8.3% of all nurse staff hours in Q4 2021, up from 5.0% in Q1 2021.
- Resident census climbed 4.75% since Q1 2021, indicating that many nursing homes are admitting residents without providing the necessary staff to meet the basic needs of those residents.
LTCCC’s Q4 2021 report can help the public, media, and policymakers identify and assess the extent to which nursing homes in their communities provided sufficient staffing to meet basic clinical and quality of life needs. The report is based on the most recent payroll-based journal (PBJ) data reported by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). (See: PBJ Daily Nurse Staffing and PBJ Daily Non-Nurse Staffing). Visit the NursingHome411 Data Center for more information on staffing, five-star ratings, and other important nursing home data.
Note: Nursing staff turnover rates and weekend staffing levels are now available for individual nursing homes on NursingHome411’s Provider Info Dataset and on the federal Care Compare website. These figures are not included in this staffing report since they are not published in the PBJ dataset.