Nursing Homes Struggle To Control Coronavirus

Nursing Homes Struggle To Control Coronavirus

Even before the novel coronavirus made its way to the United States, nursing homes in this country often struggled with trying to control infection outbreaks.  Recently, health inspectors have given citations to nursing homes that failed to make sure that all of their workers followed prevention and control regulations. Currently, many nursing homes struggle to control coronavirus infections.

As far back as 2016, 63% of all nursing homes in the U.S. were cited for one or more infection control problems.  Reports show that even among the top nursing homes in the country, about 4 out of every 10 have received citations for an infection-control deficiency.In general, violations of infection control rules were more common at facilities having fewer nurses and aides than at facilities with higher staffing levels.

Issues Faced By Nursing Homes

While citations across the country seem to have been rampant even before COVID-19, health inspectors typically classified all but about 1% of infection control deficiencies as minor and not warranting fines.  But, with the coronavirus threat, some nursing homes are struggling to contain infectious spread.

Staffing Issues

Some issues that nursing homes have seen in past years with influenza spread are now coming into play with COVID-19.   Nursing homes are having difficulty with frequent staff turnover, which means that new or temporary staff members are often less familiar with infection control rules and protocol.

Getting Staff To Stay Home

Additionally, some nursing homes have had a tough time making sure that potentially infected staff members stay home.  This is often caused by low pay and limited time off that many nursing home workers receive — employees want to work so they won’t miss getting paid.  But, if the nursing home workers take time off, the national shortage of healthcare workers frequently means that there isn’t enough staff to properly care for residents and make certain that infection-control protocols are followed.

Local Nursing Home Problems

Locally, in the Shenandoah Valley and Central Virginia, nursing homes have been impacted by the coronavirus crisis.  nursing home residents.  Residents who test positive typically receive treatment at a regional hospital or onsite at the nursing home facility. However, many residents who have tested positive show no signs of being sick and are being considered asymptomatic carriers of the virus.  In addition to residents, staff members are also becoming infected with COVID-19.

The strain of increased work duties during the coronavirus crisis as well as staff issues has been cause for concern among some local families.  Family members of residents are reporting delayed notification about resident hospitalizations as well as a lack of updates and reporting to family.

In general, local nursing homes that have experienced the most difficulty with infection-control of the novel coronavirus seem to be those homes that have received a lower than 5-star rating on Medicare’s Inspection Report for nursing homes.