“More than one-third of nursing homes and about one in five ALF operators say they are “very concerned” they’ll have to shut their doors if the labor shortage does not turn around.”
- Howard Gleckman for Forbes
The pandemic is proving to do more than just change the way skilled nursing and assisted living communities operate. It is compelling owners and operators to depart from their pre-pandemic business strategies and, in many cases, to rethink and re-write their roadmaps entirely.
The skilled nursing and assisted living staffing shortage crisis isn’t going away anytime soon
Staffing has always been a challenge for the Senior Care Industry, with some operators even limiting admissions to handle the load. Once the pandemic struck, it became a true crisis, which it remains to this day. The crisis is so acute that some skilled nursing operators are recruiting the National Guard to keep their doors open.
This is a truly scary predicament and one that’s predicted to continue well beyond the pandemic.
Old approaches are no longer working
Skilled Nursing and Assisted Living leadership can no longer respond to staffing shortage by taking reactive measures. Operators know that resorting to old, ineffective measures to keep their doors open won’t be enough to solve the problem.
In the current climate, old tactics such as resorting to drastic cost-cutting measures or enlisting a “wait and see” approach are more likely to exacerbate the crisis than they are to alleviate them.
These old approaches leave employees completely overwhelmed or simply jumping ship altogether. Cost cutting measures only puts more work on the backs of your staff, creating even greater stress and increases the likelihood of losing valuable employees.
Likewise, continuing to brace your organization to weather the storm only works when there is a forecast of blue sky ahead. As of now we don’t have such a forecast. Morale wanes when nothing is being done to tackle an issue, leading to more employee shortages & ultimately impacting the quality of care.