Home Health Care Nursing Shortage Looms
A shortage of private duty home health care nurses is looming in the Garden State.
Marlana Follet, the division director for skilled nursing services at Bayada Home Health Care, said they are “having a difficult time attracting, recruiting and retaining qualified nurses for home care.”
She said the problem is multi-faceted but the biggest issue is that “we have a difficult time attracting nurses who would prefer to go to hospitals where they can make more in wages.”
She said the Medicaid reimbursement rates in New Jersey to home care agencies are $38 for a licensed practical nurse and $50 for a registered nurse.
“That might sound like a lot, but out of that there are salaries, there are benefits, you pay for the supplies you need in the home, and the training and supervision for nurses and all expenses to provide nursing in the home come out of that hourly rate,” she explained. “We haven’t seen an increase in the Medicaid reimbursement rates for 10 years.”
Follet said to solve the home health care nursing shortage problem…
