U.S. nursing facility urges salary raise amid labor shortage
KANSAS, UNITED STATES — Non-profit nursing facility Bethany Home has been grappling with severe staffing shortages since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. The facility currently pays entry-level nurse’s aides $13.50 per hour — a rate too low to attract and retain workers, worsening patient care.
The rate is mandated by the reimbursements provided by the federal and state governments. Bethany Home chief executive Kris Erikson told My Herald Review, “We’re going to need base rate in the $16 to $20 range if we want to compete against McDonald’s in the town next to us.”
During the pandemic, Bethany’s nurses quit because of their opposition to vaccine policies or the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) that shielded them from the deadly virus.
Like nurses worldwide, Bethany’s staff had to improvise by using trash bags as gowns and cotton underwear for masks.
While the facility had been able to retain some of its staff and replenish supplies, Bethany still had to remove 20 of its 85 beds. According to Erikson, for the first time in its 100-year history, Bethany had a waiting list.
The higher salaries of private hospitals have also negatively affected nonprofits like Bethany, which have to wait for legislation to move the needle.
According to Katie Smith Sloan, president of LeadingAge, an association of nonprofit nursing homes, higher reimbursement rates would help address the shortage. However, bringing in new staff from abroad and shelling out grants for aspiring nurses could also help in the long term.
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