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* I’m told this will air in Springfield starting today and in Chicago next week…
* Background from an early April SEIU press release…
At the same time that nursing home workers are negotiating a new contract, they are also working in Springfield with the Alzheimer’s Association to pass new safe staffing legislation. Despite a 2010 law which set minimum staffing requirements at long-term care facilities, more than one-third of nursing home facilities across Illinois continue to staff at dangerously low levels, leading to the improper discharge of seniors and people with disabilities into hospitals and psychiatric units. As Illinois faces one of the worst rates of long-term care resident abandonment in the nation, the state legislature is currently considering two bills —SB 1624 and HB 3392— that would make it harder for nursing homes to violate existing legal staffing requirements and chalk up small penalties to the cost of doing business.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Apr 24, 17 @ 12:42 pm
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You never let a serious crisis go to waste ..Never. So of course it is the union to the rescue. People should realize SEIU is only looking out for themselves in terms of getting more workers hired into positions that are compelled to pay them dues.
Comment by Lech W Monday, Apr 24, 17 @ 1:07 pm
Lech. I am guessing you don’t have a parent in the nursing home…
Comment by Saluki Monday, Apr 24, 17 @ 1:25 pm
Actually I do - my mother has been bouncing between in-home health care and nursing homes and the last group I need speaking for me is SEIU.
Comment by Lech W Monday, Apr 24, 17 @ 1:29 pm
Lech,
Your observation about SEIU is probably true, but I’m sure you’ll agree that understaffing and the clearly visible results should not be allowed. If a nursing home can’t afford to staff adequately, it shouldn’t be in the business.
Comment by PublicServant Monday, Apr 24, 17 @ 1:39 pm
Fortunately we have a governor who is very knowledgeable about running nursing homes.
Comment by Earnest Monday, Apr 24, 17 @ 1:45 pm
Regardless of the political motivations behind the message you can’t argue with the importance of the legislation.
Comment by Cubs in '16 Monday, Apr 24, 17 @ 1:47 pm
The image they put there overshoots the runway…Did she fall into the Gangster Disciples? Showing someone who’s broken a hip or a leg or some other much more common and even more devastating injury would be more relate-able, more common and much more effective. They can’t help themselves. They missed. She looks like she got beat up…not like she fell. It distracts everything else they’re trying to say.
Comment by A guy Monday, Apr 24, 17 @ 2:01 pm
==Despite a 2010 law which set minimum staffing requirements at long-term care facilities, more than one-third of nursing home facilities across Illinois continue to staff at dangerously low levels,===
So, they are saying that the current law which was passed not very long ago to address this is not being followed or enforced with respect to the minimum staffing? Or do they just not like the current law’s requirements and want a different one?
The ad tugs at heart strings but is not particularly deft or helpful in educating the public or explaining the problem.
Comment by Responsa Monday, Apr 24, 17 @ 2:09 pm
The legislatures can pass any bill for minimum nursing home staffing. Nursing home surveyors write deficiencies for understaffing only to have management delete the deficiencies. Why would these bills change anything? The nursing home owners call their legislators and the legislators get ahold of IDPH and the deficiencies disappear. Sad
Comment by It's sad Monday, Apr 24, 17 @ 2:21 pm
My dear grandmother died of Alzheimer’s related causes. The last month when she was in the home with the crash pads on the floor. My mom got run down and got sick. And we put people like my grandmother in for-profit facilities where they try to pay as little as possible and staff at the minimum. Mr. Rauner and his parents won’t likely end up in one of those places. Sad… but I know most people want better.
Comment by James Knell Monday, Apr 24, 17 @ 2:24 pm
A Guy - Please provide a link to a picture or two of how someone who’s fallen down a flight of stairs should look..you’re a real empathetic dude.
Comment by PublicServant Monday, Apr 24, 17 @ 3:23 pm
A Guy..If you only knew the facts about the person in the picture. Just be thankful it wasn’t your Mom..
Comment by Jolly1 Monday, Apr 24, 17 @ 3:45 pm
**they are saying that the current law which was passed not very long ago to address this is not being followed or enforced with respect to the minimum staffing?**
Correct.
Comment by JoeMaddon Monday, Apr 24, 17 @ 4:08 pm
Yes. Public Health surveyors write deficiencies for lack of care and staffing that are too often deleted by management. This is often due to legislators intervening. Pressure from the nursing home provider. As for guy, you don’t know what your talking about. As a nursing home surveyor I have seen much worse.
Comment by It's sad Monday, Apr 24, 17 @ 4:41 pm
===…you don’t know what you’re talking about===
That hasn’t seemed to matter much to him in the past.
Comment by PublicServant Monday, Apr 24, 17 @ 6:25 pm
At a facility in Danville,I was ‘mandated’to work a 20 hr shift with 55 residents with 2 CNA’s who were mandated to work 16 hr shifts multiple times/wk, in last 7 mos they have been fined 100k and still do this staffing. Kentucky rivers SCOTUS ruling forbids RN labelled supervisor from union,so all are supervisors having neither time nor authority for title. Worked in another county, different company which brought medically complex,unstable people in with staffing that was not even good for longterm care only. When there aren’t enough nurses there is no supervision, there is clear decline in outcomes,increase in costs,injuries to staff, greater turnover and further cut in staffing. The ploy of having housekeepers, dietary and PT people be CNA so it looks better for state is as dangerous as counting DON,MDS, woundcare nurses in the mix when actually 3 nurses are working. The current staffing formula is very Trumpesque and garbage. I have asked for clear and enforceable staffing ratios, limitation of hours forced to work in line with hospital nurses.Nursing home admin who cut staffing,allow medically complex admissions at 8pm on Friday night should bear the legal liability of bad outcomes. Currently the nurses are solely liable for situations they have no control over,speaking up results in retaliation. The only hope is legislated parity with hospital nurses. For more info find Dr Pat Stone’s research on outcomes,or take a nursing home nurse to lunch,she likely didn’t eat at work anyway.
Comment by Cheryl RN Tuesday, Apr 25, 17 @ 8:40 pm
… So many things wrong with your post. Taking away staffing mandation is the opposite of helping staffing ratio’s. Housekeepers etc already do not count in the ratios with the current law. Nurses hold almost no current liability except with Gross neglect, all is already assumed by the facility. The industry is already one of the lowest “profit” margined industries in existence. RN’s are not disqualified from Union Participation in SEIU, but are disqualified as “bargaining chips” for strikes regarding wages thousands of RN’s are currently in the union. Also, the state has been grossly behind mediciad payments since 2007. The problem people hear about now with unpaid vendors due to budgets has been occuring in long term care for since before this century. This is a ploy with fake data, address the real problem with a real solution.
Comment by JSLTCWORKER Wednesday, Apr 26, 17 @ 8:25 am
Nursing Homes already submit staffing to the federal government, which started July 1st, 2016. (https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/NursingHomeQualityInits/Staffing-Data-Submission-PBJ.html Why do we need to create redundent laws? There is a shortage of Nurse’s and CNA’s in Illinois. What the state needs to do is reduce the regulations on who is allowed to train new CNA’s. Currently you have to be a RN/BSN. The RN/BSN’s are in high paying jobs. Why would they give these up to take lower paying training positions? Allow RN’s and LPN’s to train CNA’s or CNA’s in good standing with 10 years experience.
Comment by Greg Green Wednesday, Apr 26, 17 @ 11:22 am
JSLTCWORKER, I will look again at SEIU to see if it has changed (when they only covered LPN)since 2014 and how they worked around the Kentucky rivers decision but had talked to people in all nursing unions in US about NH nurses.”mandation”is something you are welcome to, but don’t try it on me and don’t tell me to intimidate a CNA who has children that her job is at risk if she doesn’t stay another 8 hrs.How long have you worked as RN in a nursing home? Again I say, read the research of Dr Pat Stone of Columbia University.State being behind in Medicaid has nothing do with workplace environment or safe staffing ratios.
Greg, I’ll look at that site thanks. I do know they are counting people who aren’t in the building in reported staffing and destroying the daily staffing sheets that tell the truth as of 7/15/2016. I refuse to work in nursing homes til it becomes a safe environment and many other nurses are with me.good luck JSLTCWORKER
Comment by Cheryl RN Wednesday, Apr 26, 17 @ 11:57 am