Poor Training and Preparation

Poor Training and Preparation

The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that health inspectors caught caregivers at Ohio nursing homes failing to properly wear masks and other protective equipment. These nursing homes are clearly not training these caregivers. Or they do not provide enough personal protective equipment. Poor training and lack of preparation causes lapses in infection control placing nursing home residents at risk.

Taking basic COVID-19 control steps such as wearing masks correctly “should be a habit” at this point, said Christine Colella. Colella is a professor at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Nursing. “It’s been six months now. It should be the new norm.”

The Enquirer reviewed reports for inspections conducted after March 11. Since then, confirmed cases exceed more than 1,000 cases at certain nursing homes. Residents at nursing homes and long-term care facilities account for more than half of Ohio’s 3,708 COVID-19 deaths. About 67% of Ohio’s coronavirus deaths have occurred among people living in certain living facilities such as nursing homes.

Preventing basic infections has long been a struggle for nursing homes across America. Sixty-three percent of U.S. nursing homes have been cited in the last four years for infection violations, more than any other type of infraction, according to a Kaiser Health News data analysis of federal records distributed by the Associated Press. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates there are 1 million to 3 million serious infections in nursing homes each year. Many cause death.