|
Publications | ||
Nursing Home Staffing Rule FinalizedThe Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued its final rule on nursing home staffing. It requires nursing homes to post data for the licensed and unlicensed nursing staff directly responsible for resident care in the facility. The final rule also requires nursing homes to post daily shift hours of and total number of hours worked by RNs, LPNs and CNAs who are directly responsible for resident care. The information must be posted in a prominent place, readily accessible to residents and visitors. And, nursing homes must make this information available to the public. The rule, effective December 27, 2005, covers any nursing home that receives Medicaid or Medicare reimbursements. The rule falls well short of an AFSCME endorsed bill (H.R. 3355) introduced by Rep. Henry Waxman in 2003 that would establish minimum staffing standards in nursing homes* . But it is a first step toward transparency. Hopefully, staff, residents and family members will use the postings to document when staffing falls below a safe level. A comparison of postings over time can help document whether a facility routinely understaffs.
|
 |
||
.gif)
