Severe staff shortages leave nursing homes in crisis 

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Most of these places only pay their CNAs 12 dollars an hour and wonder why no one wants to work there. People tend to stay when you pay then what their worth and don't try to wring everything out of them like a human towel. I worked at nursing home were I had to take care of 30ish totally dependent people by myself. When I asked the office staff for help they told me help was coming so I went back to hold the floor until they arrived, after an hour of waiting I went to investigate where my help was only to find out they left early cause it was Friday. It was that moment I knew that job wasn't worth 12.50 an hour

$16? Did I hear that correctly? I make $16.50 as a receptionist doing administrative work. They deserve at least $20.

Working conditions are terrible in nursing homes. They pay staff nothing and break their backs with heavy lifting. Usually very heavy caseloads. Add to that residents who walk around when dizzy, etc. Then the care givers are blamed.

Nursing homes all run on paying bottom of the barrel wages while charging the residents as much as they can.

We treat seniors like this saying it's the best we can do, while we spend $850 Billion a year on bombs and war. Shameful!

Heavy work load and poverty level pay is the problem. Let’s not sugar coat this

There is NOT a staffing shortage, there is a quality wage and benefit shortage!

Because it’s hard work and terrible pay!!!

ANY job that requires dealing with other humans is experiencing staff shortages. The peasants have had enough. Do it yourself.

Not a word about how many of them that have died, but at least they brushed by how crappy the wages are. The world is beginning to see which work is actually worth more money to our society as a whole, such as CNA's, truckdrivers, restaurant workers, maids, etc.

What is not addressed, is the PTSD that exists among the nursing staff that are working or have worked in nursing homes. They walk away broken.

I am going to go out on a limb and say it's the LACK OF PAY.

As if this problem is new. I will never in my life work in another nursing home again. As a RN, eff that. The people that run nursing homes DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE ELDERLY. This problem has been going on since the 70s. Vice news did a great story on this problem. The elderly need great care, but if people only see dollar signs above the residents heads, then the problem will never get solved.

I'm surprised all of this didn't come to a head years ago. Worked as a CNA in a nursing home as a young adult, and in more recent years, saw up close what these employees are up against when my Father was in one. With the prices people pay to live there, I have a difficult time believing that they can't pay employees more. Not only that, but they need better CNA to resident ratios. Having only 8 residents to take care of is EXTREMELY RARE. It's more like 9-12 per CNA, and if the facility is short-staffed, the CNAs get 12+ residents. That is not healthy or safe for the residents or the employees. It's back-breaking, tough work.

Thank you CBS Evening News for bringing attention to the nationwide shortage of Certified Nurse Assistants. Most of the CNAs currently employed consist of women, and this leaves an even greater need to hire men in this profession because some patients prefer a male CNA and specifically request a nursing home to assign a male CNA to care for them. I have worked with some really good men who are CNAs. One was assigned to only male patients and he was like a buddy to them. Another was good with both male and female patients in the nursing home because he could make them smile, laugh, and be happy, which isn't easy in a nursing home. So thank you again for focusing on this needed profession, and I hope it inspires more people to join.

I'm a certified nursing assistant, and I'm going to tell you why everyone better be concerned about getting the gas prices down. Well before the pandemic, there has been a nursing and nursing aide shortage. There is also home health in this country in which many people receive home health care from cnas, nurses, therapists, and no, they're not all in their 70s--90s. but in home health, we have to DRIVE to patients home anywhere from 15 min to 1 1/2 hours take take care of someone in their homes. We nursing assistants do take care of people who have had covid, and I have yet to receive a raise from my company and I've worked with this company for 4 years. Cnas don't get paid mileage either. I make $12-14 per hour depending on the time of day, whether it's on the weekend. I can't afford an electric car! I've got news for you: not everyone I take care of has family to help, and a lot of times I've walked in and they didn't hardly have any food to eat. We play a vital role by documenting and reporting observations to the registered nurse case manager concerning their health, skin breakdown, behavior, memory, how they ate, taking medication. It is important for us to assist them with and document how they carry out activities of daily living. I want to ask you the following questions: Would you know how to handle/redirect a person with dementia who keeps trying to go outside in the middle of the night? Do you know how to give someone a bed bath, who can't bathe themselves or get out of bed to walk to the bathroom? Do you know how to change bed linen with a bed bound person in it? (They cant sit themselves up in the bed) Do you know how to get someone to take a shower who has refused to take one in over a week? Can you turn your loved one in the bed every 2 hours and position him so he/she doesn't get skin breakdown, and keep him clean, and you might need to pull him up in the bed...oh and he might weigh over 300lbs and he can't pull himself up? I can remember taking care of a man in his apartment and he had no furniture(He was bedbound) but he had a cooler and boxes of medical supplies, so I sat on the cooler for 4 hours. I can remember working an overnight 12 hour shift in someone's house and bugs coming out of the re liner I was sitting in. I went into the kitchen, turned on the light and 4 different sizes came swarming out onto the counter. I've been humiliated, hollered, cursed at or snapped at by patients and/or their loved ones. Those are just a few things we have to deal with....not everyone had the stomach to do some of stuff we do. For many people especially living in rural areas, the nearest hospital might be 1 hr to 1 1/2 hr away; we are their lifeline. But with inflation and the high cost of gas, it's just so much to deal with.

Those commercials make it seem like retirement is the best part of your life. Definitely doesn’t give you much to look forward too..

If I CNAs are really the backbone of nursing homes, then start paying us what we're worth. Mcdonald's shouldn't be making more than a CNA.

Yep, I did three months/ 3-4 times a week of that kinda hellish shift. Me working as a brand new nurse with 65 patients and 2 CNA’s. Never ending med pass, wound assessments, wound dressings, staffing issues, and 5-7 repetitive chartings. FML 😔🔫

Only $16 for this type of work? No way.

My nursing home coworkers and I voted in early 2021 to join the "local" of Service Employees International Union. Our corporate owner has spent, by some estimation, hundreds of thousands of dollars to prevent our victory, and subsequently on a negotiator to prevent our first contract from containing the added wages crucial to improve staffing. Guess what? The owner also has a staffing agency that charges our facility for HIS travelers: creative accounting with taxpayer dollars. If you work in a SNF as support staff or as a CNA or LPN/LVN, please look into unionizing through SEIU or other unions, because residents in nursing homes are not getting all the care they need and deserve.

If they would pay people decent they might stay. I have worked admin in hospitals and the pay was pathetic. There are high-school kids working at McDonald's here that are making more than I was working at a hospital in a ridiculously busy clinic. Our clinic was supposed to have about 30 employees.....we usually only had about 15. Someone would quit and instead of finding someone new, they would just make other people do the work and pick up the slack.....and that's at a federally funded hospital.

As someone who currently as a loved one in memory care this breaks my heart. These nurses go through so much and get little to no recognition at all and are the ones that are always understaffed.

I absolutely love seniors and caring for them. As a nurse, I will never work in a nursing home because these facilities choose to understaff and underpay. Like she said, you become a witness and an unwilling accomplice to neglect, and it is awful. No matter how much you care or how hard you work, there is only so much 1 person can do on a 12 hour shift when you have 30+ patients with high needs to care for.

Starting pay at IN N OUT in my area in Texas is like $15+. Amazon is also $19+ if you work the weekends 3 day shifts. I don't knock any ones job because WE ALL SHOULD BE PAID FAIR WAGES don't matter what job you have but to pay them barely $16 to take care of our ELDERS is crazy but I'm not shocked because we still underpay our TEACHERS and others so you can't really be surprised by short staffing everywhere. My mom could retire right now as a teacher but they keep begging her to stay because they are such short staffed with teachers. PAY people what they deserve & stop treating your employees like they are WORTHLESS & maybe you won't be having all these problems. During these past 2 years it just made people realize that they are actually HUMAN & worth MORE than the bag of peanuts that they are getting paid. Cut the BS with we don't have the money to pay when you are giving the higher ups the 6/7 figure bonuses or paychecks for doing nothing while the rest of the workers are doing everything & not being rewarded for it.

Glad to see a light shining on CNAs no one talks about how bad it is for them.

$30+ per hour plus benefits would be a fair wage for that type of work. Also, adjusting staffing ratios to be more reasonable. Ultimately, the underlying issue is government assistance (ie. Medicaid) reimbursement amounts are far too low.

They “raised” the pay to $16 lol…… That’s a complete joke of a wage. They should be paying at least $20 an hour. You can’t live off $16 an hour even in low cost areas like the south….

there's no staffing shortage, but more like wage shortage. In texas, they pay them $10-15/ hr.

That's what happens when you don't pay a living wage.

These jobs are so unnatural over time. Who wants to spend their life doing this?

GREEDY OWNERS: PAY EMPLOYEES A LIVING WAGE! 👹

$16.00 an hour for CNA work is an insult.

Sadly these places bring it on themselves. They expect people to work for peanuts and do the work of 10. Not only do the patients suffer but so do the burned out staff members. I'm a registered nurse of 11 years who left the nursing field in September of 2021. I will never enter the field of Healthcare again. Corporate greed and the over all lack of concern about staff members Is appalling. All it is, is about money. What can make the most profit and bring costs down to make even more profit. Combine that with covid and all the mandates and restrictions and everything else they've done and it makes it intolerable. Sad to say I had to leave a profession of over a decade but I did. Good luck finding nurses to stay long term. Where I worked for 11 years the turn over was insane. We couldn't even keep a nurse over a month let alone my 11 years. It's so sad.

I hate to say this, but sometimes working with the elderly is a real pain. These people usually do not want to cooperate with their caregivers and it can get frustrating working with them.

I NEVER had less than 30 residents on a single day shift. Night time shift...... 60. Other cna's always calling off and making it impossible to have a normal schedule. All for 7-10 bucks an hour? This industry is doomed.

I was just talking to a friend, who works in nursing homes, and the staffing shortages are a reality and scary. She changed jobs because of severe shortages and now the new place is just as bad.

Been there and done that and I have 2 T-shirts to show for it They can have it, the short staffing on purpose before covid-19. The unrealistic expectations and goals these corporate owned nursing homes set.

I wish I could be a CNA but the smell of poop is too much!!!

I was a Traveling MA and worked for Aggeus Healthcare before they closed. I traveled all over West Texas and into Oklahoma. I got paid 14 per hour. I had to front all of my own gas and had to pay for all of my hotels upfront. It got to the point to where I couldn’t pay for my regular bills because I had to save money each month to pay for my traveling expenses. It absolutely wasn’t worth it.

I heard some nursing homes make a lot of money??? Maybe this needs to be checked out.

I guess we all will have to look after ourselves and try an get our kids to check on their parents more often.. .

$16 is too low for cna should be over $30 they do a lot of work. I went to school for cna after looking for a job they offered $10 I was like wth forget this career

and the CEO, Director, and Senior managers and making all the money at this nursing homes.

They pay them horribly.

Pay people a livable wage, and provide a good work environment. Everyone knows how much housing, food and transportation cost. Exploiting people is not very nice.

With nc paying so low for nursing who wants to do it? 25-30hr+ is how much they pay the LPNs and RNs

Hope my wife goes before me and I just keel over and die at home. But the odds don’t favor that. Assisted living is NO better. Paying big money for crap care.

Nursing home should be nationalized by the government. Employees should be paid their market values because their services are very important and valuable. I am not against the private sector but labor market is changing in that some occupations are losing their labor force and others are gaining more workers. Shortages neabs workers are moving out of these occupations.

I just retired as an ER RN, I should have no more than 4 patients at a time but during covid I had up to 12 and many of them on ventilators with no help, no assistance. It was such a madhouse, no time to do any quality care at all, I'm so glad to get out of the hospital. Healthcare is such hard work, CNAs are a treasure to the industry. I know many states are cutting Medicaid funding for long term care facilities. They will just have to shut down. Got to pay for those housing vouchers somehow...this is how they are doing it...killing off seniors.

$16/hour (oo ) (oo) ( oo)!!??!! I don't see current young generation with much desire to enter healthcare industry as part of wealth building strategy. The cost of living is unaffordable at $16 an hour in most US cities with places like Boeing, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and other blue chip companies are the backbone of community sustainability.

The nursing home’s administrator is blaming COVID instead of accepting that they don’t pay enough to their employees after charging obscene amounts of money to their customers for receiving an inhumane service.

Have you seen rents, foods, gas, electricity..etc...? you expect people to live on $16/hr?

$16 an hour is a joke...

These jobs require a special skill set, and those workers who have them should be payed accordingly. It's just not going to happen. Greed is now the standard, not the wellfare of the fellow man. How depressing. You work hard your whole life, pay into the system, and are literally broken down at the end. You then can't take care of yourself, and then worry about who's going to take care of you. Even more so if you have no family. You can't even find an assited living facility with adequate staffing because no one wants to do the job at 12.00$ an hour. Its always about the dollar...

Yup they don't want to pay more and expect a lot from the CNAS

i would never want to have a nurse take care of me, just throw me in the dirt and call it a night.

16 dollars 😂 and you wonder why you can't hire! People make that flipping burgers not 120 pound person to say the least!!!!

I’m a certified nursing assistant in North Carolina. During the pandemic I had I’m certified nursing assistant job I only made $10 an hour hour I also had my med tech med aide certification. I went and got my CNA level two. I worked at several facilities and I took care of COVID-19 patients and I risk my life. It’s very very hard work for very very low pay we’re not appreciated. And with 12 hour shifts with constant CNA‘s or staff calling out it makes things a lot harder on us. I ended up quitting being a CNA about a year and a half ago so I can finish my nursing degree. However that got put in hold because Covid messed everything up so now I’m going to finish up my healthcare management degree online or go back into nursing and finish up the rest of the semester now that we have our instructors back in class while finishing clinicals. I love being a Certified Nursing Assistant License the pay is not all good it was very rewarding work however you can’t live off $10 an hour. Before the pandemic I was a waitress and bartender for 15 years I made $2.13 an hour plus tips. I made really really good money now I struggle to find a bartending and waitressing job so I’m doing my school online.

Maybe, maybe.. should put LPN's back in place as well...

Pay them more

Interesting and informative. Thank you.

its not a staffing issue but a fair wage/education issue in the country

$16 bucks?? should be a minimum $25.50 starting with yearly raise🙄

They are the backbone but get paid peanuts….BS

The pay is insane! Then they wonder WHY they have shortages! They need to be paid a lot more like $20 per hour. Customer Service desk jobs pay what these ppl are paying so no wonder.

Pay them better than minimum wage, stop overloading them. Give them benefits. Especially in places like Texas, Florida and NC. TN. KY.

How about having people on Welfare and Section 8 be required to do some community service for their benefits? Maybe they could help feed patients a meal, mop a floor, some housekeeping. Give a little back to the community that is providing for them.

This is sad take care of your elderly

$12 an hour was good money 40 years ago. That's what my grandpa said and I believe him.

The employer states they NEED to pay $16 to hire the best CNA. They should not expect to pay less and they should actually KNOW they need to pay more for quality employees. Walmart greeters and hamburger flippers get paid $16 an hour and they want to pay $16 for this demanding job? The people who suffer are the residents of these nursing homes, no wonder there is rampant abuse. The owners are financially incentivized to hire people who are willing to work for less which means less quality. The system needs to be changed so owners who do not give quality care need to be closed down and the owners who’s report card shows quality care (the residents should grade anonymously in addition to professional audits) reap more rewards and are able to expand their business. Unfortunately, most of these are for profit businesses and will squeeze every government subsidies into profit and many also may still not make a lot of profit so the residents suffer even more. Everything from the food they provide to the staff they hire is largely based on how much profits they make, not the quality of care they are giving.

Good their kids and family can help out. Kids shoving their responsibility on others ,, take care of your loved ones, family. These nursing homes pay 💩. To bust your backs and bodies, families complaining when they should be taking care of THEIR loved ones ! Rather work at fast food. I don't get these nursing homes charging anywhere from 1,500 - to 4,000 monthly. These LLC's are getting rich while the CNA works for under 15.00 yay no thanks

It is very sad and we need the help all across this country to care properly for our elders. It's a very rewarding career but when your short staffed, it can get rough and that's unfair to these residents. I had a family member neglected and abused and things need to change. Facilities need the proper equipment to lift as well

Even making $20 an hour as a CNA I think it’s not worth my time.

Ridiculous 16$ 20yrs in the business MCDONALD'S HERE I COME

Stop treating your CNAs like crap. And pay them!!!! Working as a CNA sucks right now. They do the bulk of the work!!!!

Pay well and there will be no shortage.

It's not just paying properly. It's fallowing the state laws, and regulation. And going against residents wishes. People need to realize there is a lot that goes in to being a CNA. And why they quite.

Need more pay not just for more staff but because of the risks of Covid

Pay the staff better.

$16.00 to break your back...no thanks

Shortages of nursing, dietary & housekeeping and supervisors that do not want to come in and help their employees when call-in on weekends. How is one housekeeper is supposed to clean and keep building (public areas, cafeteria, restrooms, patient rooms, apartments) sanitized on weekends. For the heart, where’s the compassion and kindness have gone😥😢😞

Wow! $16. per hour! Whoopeedoo! Such a disgrace all the way around.

I don’t mean to be insensitive about this But it seems like everything’s a crisis nowadays

Pay them real money, they do an incredibly difficult job 😐

Homes don’t want to pay its bs

Now a lot of patients come in and have behavioral issues, combativeness, and other issues!! I worked one place where they were admitting homeless people that got discharged from the hospital! They didn't want to bathe, shower or get shaved! It was awful and had to call the police a lot! It was not safe there! Its getting worse and worse! Low pay! Rent is going up everything is going up! You put your life and hard work in for what!!

They do not pay enough!

Not surprised I have been. RN for 38 years no respect at all from management families etc

You gotta do this work for the people and not the pay. A Nurse getting paid $16/hr is pathetic.

Name one person that you know that would say.."Yes, I wanna work in a nursing home!" Yes, I'll wait...

Time to give more, it doesn't matter how much you pay if it's not enough for housing and child care. Offer adequate pay, housing and child care options, there's a new business model available people are hearing about, and don't want to settle for less, and why should they. American / worker's deserve more. 🇺🇲

Cna get 900 $ every 2 weeks. That's the "backbone "of your problem

16 an hour isn't going to cut it. That's even if you want to do it

There are nurse shortages everywhere. My 19-year-old son with special needs has been without in home care since the beginning of 2022 with no new nursing agency in the works because they can’t find staff. Definitely going to have to pay nurses more. People here in California you can make more working at Chick-fil-A than they can as a CNA and sometimes even an LVN 🥲

I worked in a nursing home for 9 years. Let me tell you, when the real problem and shortages started. Mandatory covid vaccinations did it! I worked very hard and made very little money, and I bailed! It was my choice to get vaccinated or not!

Raise pay! This kind of work is challenging, utmost important and deserve above living wage pay. Communities should become more involved in this....maybe a city tax of $6 like they do for schools or fire departments. Even tho $ 6 isnt much it could def help boost resources for the elderly. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

$16/hr is not gonna cut it for the work CNA’s do.

I work @ Pruitthealth nursing home in Union City Ga and we have 16 to 18 residents a piece on every shift and the nurses tell us we have to touch every resident before we can go home. It's sad.