Right now, nursing homes are in crisis. 

We support the Biden administration's commitment to improving nursing home care through strong federal staffing standards for nursing homes across the country. 

Decades of understaffing have spread workers thin, putting our nation’s 1.2 million nursing home residents at risk. While many nursing homes do provide adequate staffing, some facilities force nursing home workers to care for 20, 30 or even 40 residents at a time. 

More and more families are deeply worried that their loved ones are not receiving the care they need. Despite what corporations and wealthy owners of nursing homes say, this is not because of a “worker shortage.” This understaffing has gone on for years. 

Too often, some nursing home owners divert taxpayer dollars away from staff and direct care and into profit, placing residents and workers in harm's way. Even during the height of the pandemic, most for-profit nursing homes remained profitable – while they claim they can’t afford to hire more staff, there is plenty of evidence they can. 

Enough is enough. 

Safe staffing will prevent injuries, accidents, and reduce resident mortality. It will also prevent burnout and keep more workers at the bedside.

A federal mandate for a strong national staffing standard in nursing homes will save lives and is overdue.