“It’s already so low. To drop further is appalling.” Even before the pandemic, thin staffing was a hallmark of nursing homes around the country. Now, an AP analysis finds that staffing in some facilities is even thinner.
Many families of those who have died in nursing homes since COVID-19’s start are convinced their loved ones’ deaths were precipitated or hastened by poor staffing. Linking an individual death to staffing is difficult, but studies have repeatedly linked higher nursing home staffing with better outcomes.
Dave Bartok, a 74-year-old retired steelworker with vascular dementia, has lost weight since COVID-19’s start and has often been so weak he could barely hold his head up. His family blames much of that on isolation. With fewer on hand, Pullins said bedsores, wounds and falls increased. When one resident had stroke-like symptoms as her shift ended, Pullins said a supervisor said he’d have to wait an hour until the night nurse arrived. Staff was spread so thin that Pullins had to keep working when she had COVID-19.
“Can anybody in their right mind tell me how that’s even possible? There’s no way you can do all the things that these residents need never mind deserve,” she says. “They’re needing a lot of care and you can’t give it to them because you have so many to take care of. You have to work there every day knowing you can’t do the best you can because you don’t have the staff.
Despite all the horror stories of long-term care, it seemed 77-year-old Jack Walters was better positioned for his final years than most Americans.