Florida is among a group of 20 states that are suing the Biden administration over a new policy mandating increased staffing at nursing homes.
The 20 states are arguing that this policy — which requires that registered nurse be on the premises 24 hours a day — will lead to the closure of nursing homes across the country.
According to thehill.com, in a lawsuit filed in the Northern District of Iowa, the state’s Attorney General Brenna Bird said the rule should be vacated and the administration should be permanently blocked from enforcing it.
The rule is aimed at addressing nursing homes that are chronically understaffed, which can lead to substandard or unsafe care.
The federal Department of Health and Human Services argues that nursing homes should have a nurse on the floor at all times.
Martha King, the director of nursing at Tallahassee’s Miracle Hill nursing home,
said that a lot of people believe there should be a nurse on the premises 24 hours a day while others feel like having a nurse on the floor 24 hours is taking away from other staff who need the extra money.
Miesha Archer, a CNA at Fairborn Healthcare and Nursery Home in Atlanta, shared her thoughts on this policy. “The whole 24 hours, they are taking away from other staff who need the extra money. The nurses they are pushing on medicine can easily make a mistake and it has happened before where they have made a mistake on meds and gave the meds to the wrong people. I have seen it happen and I’ve seen people’s condition and health change because they are not getting the attention they need because 24 hours is a lot and too much on a nurse,” Archer said.
Nursing facilities must have at least one registered nurse around the clock at all times. In addition to having one registered nurse at all times, nursing homes are required to provide at least 33 minutes per resident day of care from a registered nurse in all states.
According to the whitehouse.gov, President Biden is committed to building a long-term care system where seniors can age with dignity, where people with disabilities can receive high-quality services and support in the setting of their choice.
All nursing homes that receive federal funding through Medicare and Medicaid will need to have a registered nurse on staff 24 hours per day, seven days per week and provide at least 3.48 hours of nursing care per resident per day, according to whitehouse.gov.
Archer, in Atlanta, doesn’t believe it’s a practical policy.
“Biden and everyone else feels like we can take care of 20 people and we’ll be all right because we ‘are strong enough to handle the workload.’ The reality of it is that there is not enough staff, especially getting these people in these fields who don’t have an education background and are not certified.
So, they lean more on the people who have the experience in education. They need to cut down the ratio of how many patients we can have because people have been dying left and right,” Archer said.