Idaho’s health care system faces serious challenges, but it’s not just doctors who are at fault. The entire health care workforce is stretched thin. This shortage affects all of us, and we need to find a solution now before the situation gets even worse.
Let’s focus for a moment on one part of this system-wide problem: Idaho’s nursing shortage. Our state ranks 50th in the nation for nurses per capita, with just 7.83 registered nurses per 1,000 people. With so few nurses, hospitals, nursing homes, and other care facilities are all competing for the same small talent pool. As demand continues to grow, nurses will be poached from place to place, creating even wider gaps in care everywhere.
Partnership connects Eastern Idaho College nursing program with local hospital through institute
The staffing shortage is already causing serious problems: One nursing home and 30 assisted living facilities have closed in Idaho since the pandemic began, and others are at risk of closing. When facilities close, it’s patients and their families who are hit the hardest, especially in rural communities.
Families will be forced to drive extremely long distances, up to an hour each way, just to see their loved ones. As more facilities close, more families will face the same challenges. Instead of daily visits, visits to see loved ones may be reduced to once or twice a week due to the time and expense.
Idaho has only 80 nursing homes statewide with roughly 6,000 beds available for residents who need skilled care. Some nursing homes in Idaho are licensed for up to 150 beds but can only care for around 80 people because they can’t hire enough staff to care for more patients.
Hospitals are short of nurses, but the nursing shortage is a problem in other ways too: We hear stories of patients who could be discharged to a nursing home but can’t because there are no staffed beds available, so they stay in the hospital unnecessarily. These patients shouldn’t be in the hospital.
Patients may become sicker, disoriented, or lose their energy. Everyone agrees that they would be better off in a nursing home, but with a shortage of nurses, there is no room to admit them. Some patients are staying in the hospital for an extra 200 days because they have nowhere else to go. And in most cases, the hospital is not compensated for these extra days.
This nursing shortage won’t be solved overnight — it will take years, even decades, to train and recruit enough nurses — but with every new nursing graduate receiving multiple job offers, filling the gap will be difficult.
The situation in Idaho nursing homes may get worse before it gets better.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Suggest a rule That would require nursing homes to have a registered nurse on staff 24 hours a day. While that may seem like a good idea, the reality is that Idaho doesn’t have enough nurses to make that happen. Most facilities have a registered nurse on one shift and an assistant nurse on when they’re not clinically needed.
If the CMS rule goes into effect, the choice for many Idaho facilities will be stark: Pay higher fees for traveling nurses that Medicaid cannot cover in full, or close the facility permanently.
The Idaho Medical Association supports the cause of improving patient care, but this rule cannot be implemented without significant changes. Nursing homes must be adequately staffed to provide Idahoans with the care they deserve. This requires a commitment from state and federal governments, Idaho educational institutions and private healthcare facilities.
If we don’t act now, we risk losing even more nursing homes and leaving even more families without the care they need.
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