Democratic legislative leaders proposed new legislation this week that would more than double the minimum amount of hours of care per nursing home resident in the state of Connecticut. Currently, the state only requires 1.9 hours per resident daily, whereas the new plan wants nurses to provide at least 4.2 hours of care for each patient by May 2009, as well as overall increased staffing in the facilities. Furthermore, there will be a staffing ratio of one nurse’s aide for every five residents, allowing for a higher quality of care.
In the past, state health officials have been lenient on the homes, rarely enforcing any of the codes or the staff. Many argue though that the $9.5 million that will be allocated to the nursing homes is not nearly enough for the facilities to reach the new minimums. Since there is also a shortage of nurse’s aides already, it seems nearly impossible that the facilities will be able to increase their employees in time.
Overall, however, nursing home workers, advocates, and residents seem to be very pleased with the new proposed legislation. As one resident pointed out, while she states that the care she currently receives is great, she feels that the staff is “overwhelmed” most of the time. With all of these upcoming changes, we can only hope the quality of care and staffing at nursing homes in Connecticut will show signs of improvement.
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