As the nation’s elderly population increases, Texas nursing homes face bringing in many new patients while dealing with an employment crisis. Unfortunately, a recent proposal from the U.S. government is piling even more stress on the nation’s nursing home facilities.
Proposed changes to nursing homes
As part of the proposed rules, nursing homes throughout the United States would be required to provide at least three hours of direct care per day per patient. Of these three hours, a registered nurse would provide 0.55 hours of patient care. A nurse aide would perform the remaining portion of care, which would be 2.45 hours per day. Understandably, the U.S. government’s new proposal has health care law and nursing home experts wondering what to do next.
Timeframes
Another important part of this proposed mandate concerns how long nursing homes have to comply with these new changes. Most nursing homes up to three years to comply. However, due to their location, rural nursing facilities would have five years.
The proposed rule requiring around-the-clock care from registered nurses (RNs) has a slightly shorter timeframe. Rural nursing homes would have three years to provide 24-hour RN care to nursing home residents. However, non-rural nursing homes would only have two years to comply with this specific rule. It’s worth noting that a 24-hour RN requirement is three times more than the current eight-hour per day requirement for nursing homes.
Understandably, many nursing home operators are unhappy with the proposed requirements. One reason this mandate proves difficult involves the nationwide staffing shortage continuing to hit the nursing home industry. This situation leaves many nursing home companies wondering how they might be able to comply.