Member Leader Venda Howard Guest Columnist in Florida Today newspaper

SEIU member leader is guest columnist in Florida Today

March 8, 2009

Nursing homes are in distressFlorida budget cuts are crippling the care facilities
BY VENDA HOWARD
GUEST COLUMNIST

I am a certified nursing assistant at Titusville Rehabilitation Nursing Center.

For 22 years, it has been my job to provide your elderly loved ones with the care and respect they deserve. I strive to treat each and every person with the dignity and respect I would hope to receive if I were in their place.

For years, advocates, caregivers, patients and their families have fought profit-hungry corporations’ efforts to undermine Florida’s standards for staffing and supervising nursing homes.

But with bigger budget deficits looming, and long-term care facilities expected to swell with baby boomers during the coming years, safeguarding critical staffing standards in Florida is more urgent today than ever before.

As a Brevard County nursing home employee, I’ve witnessed firsthand how adequate levels of care and supervision make a difference in the lives of ailing seniors.

Before 2001, Florida’s staffing standards for nursing homes were among the lowest in the nation. The long-term care industry was saddled with lawsuits, patient care was lacking and Florida’s image as a retirement destination was tarnished.

That year, the Legislature made a number of reforms to the elder-care industry. The most significant of these changes increased — from 1.7 to 2.9 — the minimum number of hours of direct care each patient must receive each day.

But this isn’t about numbers. It’s about people.

It’s about how long it takes me to answer a call light when a bedridden senior needs assistance going to the bathroom.

Sadly, I know from experience that if they are forced to wait too long, they end up incontinent. They lose control of their bodily functions and they lose their dignity and quality of life right along with them. It’s about having the time to turn over patients who can’t turn over on their own.

This protects patients from bedsores and nursing homes from lawsuits. Protecting safe staffing standards is also about the little things like having time to help them pick out the clothes they want to wear that day and having time to read or help them write letters to their families.

Last year, the Legislature helped balance the budget by reducing minimum direct-care hours for patients from 2.9 to 2.6.

This lower standard was intended to be temporary and is slated to “sunset” in June, at which point we will return to the standard of 2.9 — a standard that has proven effective and improved the lives of Florida’s most vulnerable senior citizens.

As lawmakers continue their budget-cutting session this month, it is imperative that the 2.9 staffing standard is safeguarded.

The budget crisis is no excuse for lawmakers to abandon frail seniors. Leaders in Tallahassee would be wise to balance the budget without compromising the quality of care at nursing homes in Brevard County and across the state.

I hope you will contact your member of the Brevard County legislative delegation today and urge them to protect safe staffing standards in our nursing homes.

Howard is a certified nursing assistant at Titusville Rehabilitation Nursing Center.