A Resident Dialogue on Staffing

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s (CMS) new minimum staffing standard requires facilities to provide 3.48 hours of care per resident per day. That translates into three hours and 29 minutes of care over 24 hours for each resident. This number is lower than what Consumer Voice and other consumer advocates, nursing professionals, and nursing home residents have been advocating for, for years. This number is lower than what studies have shown, for decades, will keep nursing home residents safe, but it will still raise staffing levels at many facilities. In this episode, you will hear an important conversation between four nursing home residents about their personal experiences with understaffing, their thoughts on the new minimum staffing standard released by CMS, and their plans for advocating for themselves and others moving forward. The residents in this conversation are all part of Consumer Voice’s Consumer Advisory Council and we are grateful they made the time to share their thoughts with us. Special Guests: • Maurice Miller; Long-Term Care Resident in Maryland • Sharon Wallace, Long-Term Care Resident in New York • Cindy Napolitan Long-Term Care Resident in Texas • Margarite Grootjes, Long-Term Care Resident in Ohio