Unsafe Staffing in Virginia

Virginia nursing home residents are in danger. At least, 20% of Virginia’s nursing homes fail to meet expected staffing levels under federal standards. The standard is to provide sufficient and qualified staff to meet the needs of the residents. Poor quality care is inevitable without safe staffing.  Associate Health Policy Analyst Kyu Kang warns:

“Facilities with low staffing are more likely to have poor quality measures in health inspection ratings. Low staffing negatively impacts care quality as well as staff and resident well being.” 

A new study shows a need for legislative solutions. One solution is minimum safe staffing standards. Virginia, like South Carolina, is only one of 16 states without safe staffing levels. Of course, industry leaders are opposed to anything that will affect their profits.

Federal officials will ramp up non-COVID related enforcement and compliance issues since cases continue to decline because of the vaccine mandates. Online CASPER data for 2020 and 2021 “reflects that citations have not been issued for several Phase 3 elements including trauma informed care, compliance and ethics programs, and certain training requirements.”