The North Carolina Medical Journal’s March/April issue contains a suite of articles on long-term care, including two about the state’s direct-care workforce.
In an introduction (pdf), Editor-in-Chief Thomas C. Ricketts and Managing Editor Christine Nielsen write that the issue aims to “present a broad range of views and opinions, with the ultimate goal of drawing some much-needed attention to the important issues within the field of long-term care.”
The issue is entitled “Long-Term Care: Are We Ready to Meet Expected Needs and Demand?” Several of the articles mention the expected care gap that will emerge as the baby-boomer generation reaches retirement age.
“It’s exciting to see a state-focused health care journal dedicate an entire issue to the question of essentially whether the state is prepared to care for the emerging long-term care needs of its citizens, and to underscore, in several articles, the critical importance of building and supporting the direct-care workforce,” said PHI Director of Policy Research Dorie Seavey.
“In addition, valuable information is presented about two leading initiatives in North Carolina to advance the direct-care workforce that should be of interest to all states,” Seavey said.
WIN A STEP UP and NC NOVA
One of the workforce-related articles, “Strengthening the Direct-Care Workforce in North Carolina,” describes the state’s efforts to create quality care through quality direct-care jobs since the early 1990s.
Aided by money provided through the Better Jobs Better Care program and technical assistance from PHI, North Carolina enacted two programs aimed at making direct-care positions more attractive to job-seekers.
The WIN A STEP UP program provides bonuses and wage increases to direct-care workers who complete a certain amount of training. It has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a proven method of reducing worker turnover.
Meanwhile, the North Carolina New Organizational Vision Award (NC NOVA) was established to recognize care facilities that work especially hard to maintain a strong, well-trained staff of direct-care workers.
Addressing Turnover and Staffing Shortages
The second Journal article that addresses the direct-care workforce is titled “Assuring the Adequacy of Staffing of Long-Term Care, Strengthening the Caregiving Workforce, and Making Long-Term Care a Career Destination of Choice: From Mission Impossible to Mission Critical?”
Yearly turnover of the certified nursing assistant (CNA) workforce in North Carolina is estimated to exceed 100 percent, the article notes.
It lists three “key challenges” that must be addressed to reverse that trend, including the challenge of providing greater incentives (wages, benefits) to attract and retain a consistent, well-trained long-term care workforce.
– by Matthew Ozga
