Thanks to members of 1199SEIU, Maryland issued updated staffing regulations for Long Term Care Facilities effective June 17, 2019.

Relevant Staffing Impacts for 1199SEIU Members:

1. Require that a nursing home shall employ supervisory personnel and a sufficient number of support personnel, to provide a minimum of 3 hours of bedside care per occupied bed per day, 7 days per week.
    
2. Require that the ratio of nursing service personnel on duty providing bedside care to resident may not at any time be less than 1 to 15.
    

Note: Before this update, the regulatory requirement for hours of beside care was 2 hours and the minimum ratio of nursing service personnel was 1 to 25. 

Your VOICE can be a powerful tool to enforce the new staffing standards:

1. Facilities are still required to post staffing for each shift. YOU can hold them accountable by documenting staffing schedules by taking a photo or making a photocopy of it and comparing them to YOUR experience on your shift. SHARE evidence of unsafe standards with your organizer and click here to complete the online form.  
    
2. YOU can also contact your County Ombudsmen for Assisted Living and Nursing Home Residents. These are independent advocates who work to resolve problems in long term care facilities. All conversations are confidential unless permission is given to use a person’s name. The list of contact information by County is at https://aging.maryland.gov/Documents/OmbudsmanLocation.pdf.

 

Is there unsafe staffing in your facility click here to let us know!