On the last working day of the Biden administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) communications team summarized the existing elements of its nursing home staffing campaign. The initiative, which “will invest over $75 million to recruit more nurses into nursing homes, address staffing shortages and support the health and safety of residents,” according to the e-mail, is one component of the nursing home staffing mandate, a regulation proposed and finalized during the Biden administration.

The January 17, 2025 CMS communication lays out the campaign’s elements and focus, while offering additional details on some of the initiatives announced in late December 2024 and early January 2025.

Notable excerpts include:

• An overview of the financial incentives for registered nurses (RNs) initiative and links to the funding opportunities for qualified organizations to participate: To receive these incentives, which include tuition reimbursement and stipends to encourage nurses to work in nursing homes, RNs will need to work in a qualifying nursing home or state inspection agency for three years. To facilitate this, CMS will solicit organizations to become financial incentive administrators (FIAs) who will administer the incentive process, such as identifying eligible RNs, working with nursing homes to fill their vacancies, and verifying that RNs are fulfilling their work commitment. More details on these financial incentives can be found in the notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) https://grants.gov/search-results-detail/357885 which outlines the types of organizations that can become an FIA, the expectations of those organizations, and the amount of funds an RN may receive.
• An overview of information available on two webpages launched in December 2024 with detailed information intended to increase awareness of Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) training and promote career pathways for nurses by highlighting opportunities for career advancement within nursing homes, such as CNA, licensed practical or vocational nurse (LPN/LVN), and RN positions.
• A summary of yet-to-be launched efforts, such as the creation and launch of a nationwide awareness campaign to motivate individuals to pursue careers in nursing homes and utilize available financial assistance, and of targeted outreach for high-labor shortage areas that focuses on regions experiencing significant nursing shortages.
• Instructions on resources: CMS will maintain and update two CMS web pages that are the central hubs for campaign information, including information on career paths suited to individuals’ interests.
• A timeline of activities for 2025, which follow the December 2024 webpage launches (explained here) and early January 2025 notice of funding opportunity for RN incentives (explained here). In Spring 2025,  according to CMS, the agency expects to select financial incentive administrators and begin to build their infrastructure and to also promote CNA training resources. By late 2025, CMS anticipates that RNs will begin applying for financial incentives.

Keep up with the latest information related to the nursing home staffing mandate via our Nursing Home Staffing Mandates: What You Need to Know serial post.