Six Low-Cost ‘Action Items’ to Recruit and Retain Nurses

While nearly half (46%) of the 86 respondents to the management consultant’s 2022 State of Healthcare Improvement Report say that reducing labor costs provides the greatest opportunity for cost reductions, virtually all of the respondents (98%) say they’re bumping up starting wages, 84% are offering signing bonuses, 73% are offering retention bonuses, and 47% are paying for more overtime hours.

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CMS Revised Guidance Offers Nursing Homes Flexibility in Nurse Aide Training

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued a revised guidance that will provide waivers to allow nursing homes to continue certifying TNAs beyond the deadline to keep staffing at safer levels. In the early days of the COVID-10 pandemic, CMS enacted several temporary public health emergency blanket waivers intended to provide healthcare providers needed flexibility to respond to the pandemic.

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Even After Infectious Outbreaks, Nursing Home Staffing May Never be Fully Replaced

The study, Staffing Patterns in US Nursing Homes During COVID-19 Outbreaks, noted that significant staffing declines during a severe COVID-19 outbreak continued even as much as 16 weeks after the outbreak’s start. And even though facilities temporarily increased hiring, contract staff, and overtime to boost staffing, these measures did not fully replace lost staff—particularly certified nursing assistants.

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Why Virtual Simulation is Beneficial to Nursing Students

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and nursing students were unable to do in-person clinicals in hospitals, Wayne State University College of Nursing in Detroit, like other nursing schools, had to rely on simulation to provide students with the education they needed. And although nursing students are returning to in-person clinical rotations, simulation labs remain in important part of their education.

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