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Kentucky State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, Sherry Culp, Wrote an Op-Ed About Nursing Home Staffing

November 16, 2018

In the article, Legislature must beef up staffing at nursing homes, Sherry Culp emphasizes the importance of reaching the government’s recommendation of an “expected staffing” level that provides residents more than one hour of care from registered nurses and two hours and 45 minutes from nurse’s aides every day. However, in Sherry points out that in Kentucky, the majority of nursing homes fall short of that goal. On average, Kentucky nursing homes report 43 minutes of daily care from registered nurses and two hours and 19 minutes from nurse’s aides, according to CMS. Sherry also mentioned that 43 percent of Kentucky’s 284 nursing homes received “below average” or “much below average” ratings by CMS, meaning 12,500 nursing home residents are at high risk for becoming even more seriously ill or dying, and this problem is because of understaffing. Read the full op-ed here.