For months, no visitors were allowed inside long-term care facilities because of COVID.Nursing homes and assisted living facilities were hit hard by COVID-19. Though cases have subsided, we are now forced to deal with another epidemic: staffing shortages.
As a society, we are morally obligated to care for our elderly, but it has become increasingly difficult to provide quality care as nursing home staff are getting paid half the amount the traveling CNAs earn. I personally know two CNAs who went from making $14 per hour on staff to $30 per hour as travel CNAs.
The elderly we care for thrive on familiarity and stability, particularly those who are cognitively impaired. We try to create an atmosphere of familiarity to reduce stress and anxiety not only for the residents, but for their families as well. Imagine visiting your elderly mother or father at a care facility and seeing the same faces for years.
The Migration Policy Institute reported in 2020 that an estimated 6 million immigrants nationwide work in front-line occupations such as food production, health care and transportation, thereby making us more susceptible to COVID-19. We did not have the privilege of sheltering in place and working from home, but we risked our lives to take care of elderly American citizens. This is not a request for handouts or government aid. It is an appeal for equality and fairness when it comes to pay.