Skilled nursing properties reporting shortages of nursing staff dropped from 28% in January to 20.8% in September, according to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care.
Also shortages of aides dropped from 29.7% to 21.6% over the same period, NIC Senior Data Analyst Omar Zahraoui wrote in a recent blog post.
Competition for workers is steep among senior living and skilled nursing operators relative to other service-oriented industries, such as hotels and restaurants, “especially those operating in regions and states where broad labor availability is tight and employer demand is high,” he said.
Staffing shortages in skilled nursing hit their peak in January and are starting to improve, Zahraoui said. Approximately 20% of long-term care operators, however, consider staffing shortages across their organizations to be severe.
All regions of the country have been affected by staffing shortages in skilled nursing. Zahraoui noted, however, that the Midwest has been particularly hard hit. More than a third (37%) of SNFs in the Midwest reported shortages of nursing staff, he said. September data show about 30% of SNFs in the Midwest still reported shortages of nursing staff and aides, which is nearly twice that of the South, Northeast and West regions.
Occupancy presents a paradox in skilled nursing, Zahraoui said. As with staffing, occupancy for SNFs is recovering but remains far below pre-pandemic levels. The higher the occupancy, the lower the share of SNFs reporting shortages of nursing staff and aides. With fewer staff members to take care of residents, however, occupancy is limited.
“The relationship between labor and occupancy and conversely for occupancy and labor is synergistic and a bit of a chicken and egg scenario. In some instances, if labor isn’t available, new patients cannot be admitted, but if patients cannot be admitted, occupancy cannot be improved,” he wrote.
Smaller SNFs have been hit hardest by pandemic-related staffing issues, according to NIC.
“In general, the smaller the property, the more volatile the occupancy due to the impact of just a few move-outs. This may impact staffing as well across these smaller properties, especially if they are not part of a larger portfolio,” Zahraoui wrote. “For example, finding and hiring staff can be more challenging for small properties (less than 50 units) in the Midwest, with an occupancy rate less than 80%.”
