Multiple actions—including passage of the CNA lockout bill—are needed to address complex workforce challenges.

Demand for certified nurse aides (CNAs)–already in short supply–will balloon, should nursing home staffing mandates be implemented as proposed by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). An estimated 76,000 more CNAs would be needed for providers nationwide to comply with the new regulation.

For numerous reasons, the obvious solution of simply hiring more nurse aides is not feasible, as LeadingAge members explain in a February 15 Modern Healthcare article, “Training Bottlenecks Stymie Nursing Homes.”

To become certified, prospective aides must complete at least 75 hours of training, which includes classroom instruction by registered nurses with experience in long-term care. The national shortage of nurses, along with better-paying alternatives for RNs, has led to a shortage of qualified instructors for CNA programs, especially in rural areas.

Christine Bakke, regional director of operations at LeadingAge member St. Francis Health Services of Morris, which operates 14 nursing homes in Minnesota, explains that the lack of CNAs forces some homes to limit admissions, leaving older adults without needed care and services. While the Good Samaritan Society, a LeadingAge member based in Sioux Falls, SD, manages nurse instructor shortages by offering virtual classroom training, federal regulations that prohibit nursing homes from operating in-person instruction if they receive a deficiency citation and are fined over $10,000, pose a significant barrier for students who need to complete onsite instruction. Calling the regulations “counterintuitive” because they penalize providers who are “trying to provide care,” Good Samaritan President and CEO Nate Schema points to a potential solution: the Ensuring Seniors’ Access to Quality Care Act. 

LeadingAge is working hard for passage of this important legislation, now in both the House (H.R.3227) and the Senate (S.1749). It which would allow providers that have demonstrated their return to compliance to restart training programs rather than having to sit out a full two years—an urgently needed solution to an already dire problem that could be exacerbated if the proposed staffing mandates are finalized.

Show your support for this legislation by sending an action alert today and read our members-only serial post to keep up on the latest developments in the proposed staffing mandates.