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Shelley Robinson, CNA, Pennsylvania
Shelley Robinson, CNA, Pennsylvania
I’ve been a nursing home CNA since 1993 and my residents are my family. Just like any family, we laugh together, we argue sometimes, I comfort them when they’re hurting.
I would walk through fire for them, and most nursing home workers would say the same. That’s why we are all speaking out to demand nationwide safe staffing standards.
I’ve spent too long knowing that I’m not giving residents the time, attention and care they deserve because there’s just not enough of us to go around. With enough staff, we could give them showers every day. We could have conversations, connect with them. We could give them the good quality of life they deserve.
Sophia Colley, CNA, Florida
Sophia Colley, CNA, Florida
Safe staffing in nursing homes is crucial because it has a direct impact on the quality of care and well-being of the residents. Our nursing homes provide care to individuals who may have complex medical conditions and disabilities that require specialized and individualized care.
And when we work 17 residents to one CNA, that quality of care suffers. Safe staffing ensures that residents receive the necessary care, attention, and assistance they need.
Recently I signed up to work an extra shift because we needed help and even then we were short staffed. I had to take care of 13 residents and they all required special attention. Some residents can’t get out of bed by themselves and some require three people to safely lift them.
I barely have enough time to serve them meals. Sometimes I end up serving residents cold food. Feeding my residents takes so much time that sometimes it's impossible to meet their other needs, like giving them a shower.
Addressing safe stuffing also saves us from staff burnout which is one of the biggest reasons why nursing homes have high turnover. We can’t provide high quality care if we are overworked and stressed due to the demands of our job. This leads to higher queues meaning short-term residents have to stay longer, which in turn gives us less time for our long-term resident care. And that leads to a more stressful environment, more prone to conflict and low morale.
A lack of transparency about policies and procedures on the behalf of nursing home corporations only makes the problem worse.
Shantonia Jackson, CNA, Illinois
Shantonia Jackson, CNA, Illinois
I deal with short staffing every day on the job. I’ve spoken to nursing home workers on different floors, at different facilities and from nursing homes all across the state. They all have experienced short staffing.
We hear those words – 'short staffing' – all the time, but what those words can’t tell you is what it’s like to be the only certified nursing assistant caring for 15 residents with Alzheimer’s. You’re supposed to only have 5 to 7 Alzheimer’s residents for each certified nursing assistant. At that level, you can provide quality care. At that level, you can make sure everyone is fed, bathed, toileted or changed. At that level, you can make sure everyone is looked after and kept safe. But when you have THREE times the number of residents you can care for, then everything starts to fall apart.
I currently work with residents who are mentally ill. There’s supposed to be one certified nursing assistant for every 10 residents, but that NEVER happens. On a GOOD day, I have 36 residents to take care of. You can’t take care of all their needs. I have to change beds, make sure residents shower, get their food trays to them, help some of them eat, take care of accidents—and there are lots of accidents. And there’s always the chance that residents will get into a fight or get violent.
On a BAD day, and there are lots of BAD days, I’ve taken care of 72 residents by myself. I can’t tell you how stressful that is. There’s no way to do everything, no matter how hard you work.
Adelina Ramos, CNA, Rhode Island
Adelina Ramos, CNA, Rhode Island
Many families prefer home care, but for some it’s just not possible. A person with Alzheimers or complex conditions need the 24 hour care that a nursing home can provide, but this means we need safe staffing to take care of these residents.
Many of our residents require two people to lift and move them. If a resident wants to go to bed, I not only have to finish up caring for another resident, I have to wait for the other CNA to finish what they are doing. They can take 20-40 minutes, and residents become frustrated. Imagine needing to wait for 40 minutes every time you wanted to go to bed.
Those who are able may try to go to the bathroom themselves because they can no longer wait for us and are at increased risk of falling. Many residents cannot eat by themselves. We must feed them one at a time so others just sit there while food is getting cold.
These are choices we have to make on a daily basis. No human being should have to make these choices, which is why I am demanding safe staffing standards for nursing homes across the country.
Shunda Whitfield, CNA, Missouri
Shunda Whitfield, CNA, Missouri
Some of those residents have not ever had anyone visit, so we have become their family. They look to us for support, to confide in, and be there for them.
Some of these residents have mental health and neurological conditions that can make them aggressive and it can get dangerous for both them and workers. It’s really important to have the adequate staff you need – Because without that, there is no one to call to help diffuse the situation and keep everyone safe.
When we’re short staffed we need to make impossible decisions – I may need to walk away from a resident who is soiled and in their own urine to try to calm a resident in the next room who is getting aggressive. It’s not fair to anyone and it’s not the level of care I want to provide.
It’s so hard to watch residents struggle, and think ‘what can I do to make their day and their life better.’ I’m advocating for my coworkers and all the residents I care for, because we all deserve better.
Amy Runkle, CNA, Florida
Amy Runkle, CNA, Florida
On top of the care needs, there are issues like making sure our supplies are stocked – We may not have enough briefs or soap and have to spend part of our shift just looking for those supplies. That can easily take an hour. That’s an hour our residents aren’t getting direct care.
Nursing home workers need to be respected, protected and paid. Currently they want to hire CNAs at $15 an hour, or even less in some places. You can’t live off that, so why would people want to come into these difficult, exhausting jobs?
We need good union jobs and safe staffing in all nursing homes.
Lori Irvin, CNA, Pennslyvania
Lori Irvin, CNA, Pennslyvania
I work 11am – 7pm, running nonstop. Some nights I have 28 residents to care for. We have to restock supplies but many of the residents don’t sleep, so we’re on a continuous loop. If a resident falls, gets sick, or alarms are ringing, you’re running back again and starting over. Some nights I never get a chance to sit down. Other times I may be able to sit and eat while doing paperwork.
My residents are like family and they like to chat about ‘the good old days.’ I have one resident who loves to talk about when gas cost $1 and asks how we manage now with everything getting so expensive. There are days I find myself standing in the doorway, knowing I need to leave and get to the next resident, and I cut him off. I feel terrible about it and it makes me so angry, because it’s rude. He deserves my undivided attention but I can’t give that to him, because two dozen other people also need me.
Shelly Hughes, CNA, Washington
Shelly Hughes, CNA, Washington
Nursing home workers like me have always been on the frontlines, caring for our elderly and sick, even before COVID. Because of chronic underfunding we are understaffed and often overwhelmed. Workers are struggling with burnout and residents are getting lower quality care because when we’re short staffed there are too many residents to care for and not enough time to give them the care they deserve.
When I talk to lawmakers about why we need to increase funding for nursing home workers’ pay I always hear from them that long-term care is expensive. That’s true, but we’re talking about nothing less than taking care of other human beings. That’s gonna cost some money.
Nursing home workers in my Union came together and won historic wage increases from our State legislature. WE made our voices heard. WE purpled up. WE showed up. WE made our presence known. We did interviews, were on TV and in newspapers, we lobbied relentlessly about funding and the crisis going on. Finally, we won new money to handle this crisis and start paying nursing home workers the wages we deserve. I got a $3 raise overnight! All of a sudden there’s more money in my paycheck. My daily shift totals are so much more. I have disposable income now! I’ve never had that before. And I finally have hope that my nursing home might be able to bring our staffing levels up and we’ll be able to care for our residents as well as we want to.
James Funderburk_Leslie open.mp4James Funderburk, EVS, New York
James Funderburk, EVS, New York
He [a resident] was laying down. He dropped his remote and it bounced underneath his bed. So he put on his call light and 5 hours later somebody came...the aide said, "hey, I'm the only aide here." There were 40 residents on the unit that day. THAT is unacceptable. When you have residents being served frozen chicken sandwiches on a bun and then when you go to the kitchen to complain about it, you notice that a CNA is working in the kitchen, because there is no kitchen staff...Aides not only have to get people up and and ready for the day, they have to come downstairs to prepare the food, serve the food, deliver the food on the units, and feed the residents for $15 dollars an hour.
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