For Immediate Release
Wednesday, March 14, 2001
Unions, Consumer Advocates, Providers, And Health Professionals Join to Address Nursing Shortages in Nursing Homes
AFSCME praises historic, first-time partnership
Washington —The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, today lauded an agreement between unions, nursing home providers, consumer advocates, and health care professionals to work together to find solutions to critical shortages of nurses and nursing assistants in nursing homes.
The coalition signed The Nurse Staffing Crisis in Nursing Homes, which outlines 11 factors that contribute to serious shortages of licensed nurses and certified nursing assistants and that jeopardize residents' health and safety. Among those factors are the recruiting and hiring of qualified job applicants, retention, wages and benefits, education, training and supervision, workload and workplace safety.
"As a union that represents health care workers throughout the country, we understand the impact short staffing has on the quality of health care," said Gerald W. McEntee, President of AFSCME. "AFSCME is proud to be a co-signor of this consensus statement and is committed to working together to finding solutions to this crisis."
More than 12 million people in the United States, about half over the age of 65, need some kind of long-term care. This number is expected to grow as baby boomers reach retirement age. At the same time, the pool of available workers will shrink, making it increasingly difficult for nursing homes to staff at appropriate and safe levels.
In July 2000, the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) issued a report to Congress that reported what AFSCME nursing home workers already know: many nursing homes have too few staff to ensure quality of care for residents. The study found the risk to residents of inadequate staff includes bedsores, malnutrition and abnormal weight loss. Residents in understaffed nursing homes are also at greater risk for health conditions that can lead to hospitalizations that could have been prevented, including pneumonia, urinary tract infection, sepsis, congestive heart failure, and dehydration.
"We must do everything that we can to ensure that our most vulnerable citizens have the best care possible," said Mr. McEntee.
AFSCME represents 250,000 health care workers throughout the country including doctors, nurses, nurses' aides and food service workers.
