Staff Turnover
It is estimated that there are more than 5 million people in long-term care today. We are facing a critical shortage of long-term care workers, a situation that will worsen as the population ages and more people have long-term care needs. To read a full report on the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' recent findings on frontline long-term care workers,
click here.
Studies find staff turnover rates range from 50 percent to as high as 300 percent a year! Facilities spend as much as $5,000 or more for each direct care worker that must be replaced, an amount that may be more than two to four times the monthly salary paid to the worker. The cost of temporary workers or overtime pay may be 200 percent of what was paid to the worker. It has been speculated that the nationwide cost of staff turnover is $4.1 billion. Most importantly, residents suffer as continuity of care is disrupted when they lose the familiar workers who know them and understand their needs, a particularly acute loss for those with dementia. Read AARP's report.
Why? What is happening on the front lines of our long-term care facilities that produces these grim statistics? A recent article in ADVANCE for Long-Term Care Management discusses the Better Jobs, Better Care program, which offers simple solutions to the long-term care staffing crisis.
The well-documented nursing shortage has resulted in dramatic increases in nursing school enrollments in recent years. Why has this not happened with our direct care workers? What can we do to prevent the mass departures from our organizations and to encourage others to enter the field?