Staffing Trends for Non-Nursing Occupations in Skilled Nursing Facilities in the United States Between 2018-2022

Abstract

This study examined trends in staffing of non-nursing direct care occupations in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) from 2018 to 2022 using the Payroll Based Journal, a publicly available data source with daily staffing information by occupation from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Key findings include:
Non-nursing occupations are a smaller proportion of all SNF staff compared to nursing occupations (i.e., registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, and administrative and nursing support roles), such that nursing occupations accounted for about four times the staff hours compared to all non-nurse occupations.

The overall and many individual non-nursing occupations experienced a decline between 2018-2022, though when measured as staffing per patient-day, declines were mitigated in part due to concurrent declines in patient census.

Of the non-nursing occupations in SNFs, declines in census-adjusted staffing levels between 2018-2020 were the largest for therapy staff and feeding assistants.

Contractors are employed at higher rates for non-nursing occupations than for nursing occupations in SNFs. Specific occupations such as therapy staff, medical directors, and pharmacists were comprised of over 50% contract staff.

Between 2018-2022, contractor staffing decreased for non-nurse occupations while contractor staffing for nursing occupations increased.

Authors:

Journal/Publisher:

Edition:

Funder:

Documents:

Citation:

Related Studies: