Skilled Nursing Facilities Need Infection Control

Over 300 nursing homes in America closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, 400 more may follow suit. By 2025, the country is on track to lose 1 in 4 of their skilled nursing facilities. These startling trends are occurring in the face of an aging population increasing demand for long term care.

 

Why are nursing homes in so much trouble? COVID-19 exposed their poor infection control practices to the public. Despite making up less than 1% of the population, 20% of the US’s COVID-related deaths were nursing home residents. Even before the pandemic, infection control was the most commonly cited deficiency on state surveys of nursing homes. 1 to 3 million serious infections would occur every year. 

 

Nurses are the key to infection control, and they are leaving the profession in droves. During the pandemic, nurses dealt with lack of equipment, poor communication, heavy workloads, and, often, severe burnout. 

 

Source: IPCWell.com