AHA shares perspective on long-term care staffing proposal with lawmakers

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ proposal to implement mandatory nurse staffing levels “would have serious, negative, unintended consequences not only for nursing home patients and facilities, but the entire health care continuum,” AHA told the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee in a statement submitted to a hearing yesterday afternoon on the issue.  
  
“Safe staffing is complex and dynamic,” AHA wrote. “It must account for the acuity of patients’ needs, the experience and clinical expertise of the nurses and health care professionals on the care team, and the technical capabilities of the facility. Organizational leaders, nurse managers and direct care nurses who know the needs of the patients they serve best must be empowered to collaboratively make staffing decisions, rather than having ‘one-size-fits-all’ thresholds.”