"I'm Still Standing" is the theme for the CNA Week 2022, which runs from June 16 to 22.

CNAs across the country will have an opportunity to celebrate CNA Week 2022 in just about three months with a theme chosen by the NAHCA Board of Directors to illustrate the strength and resilience of the profession as it has endured the last year with another leg of COVID-19 and a staffing crisis that left CNAs working harder than ever.

Said Board Chair Sherry Perry, "CNAs are professionals, we are resilient, and we have endured so much in the last two years. And like the lyrics to the famous Elton John song, 'I'm still standing better than I ever did, looking like a true survivor...' this theme represents both the struggle and the triumph of CNAs today."

NAHCA is prepared to help nursing homes, home health providers, and others celebrate the week with resources to help CNAs be recognized, respected, and celebrated throughout the week, so please stay tuned for more information.

During her session, Perry implored attendees to understand that CNAs are "caring people who care the about staff and patients, and we don’t let anything deter us from that." She added: "elders deserve the care they need to live a good, quality life when they can’t do it for themselves. It’s not about the money. It’s a higher calling than that."

In response to a question about CNA career ladders, Fillbrook said he would like to see the role of a CNA taken more seriously as a lifelong profession that includes a BA or MA. "If it was possibly to get a bachelor's degree in being a CNA, I would do it," he said.

Lori Smetanka, executive director of Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, approached the microphone in one session and told the CNA panel that her members (who are nursing home residents) have asked on numerous occasions about CNAs. Illustrating the bond that develops between CNAs and residents, Smetanka said, "they want to know that you are ok. They are worried about how you have been during the pandemic."

At the opening general session of the conference, Harvard's David Grabowski, PhD, thanked all the certified nursing assistants. "They are the backbone of long-term care. That can't be said enough," he said, adding "unfortunately, we haven't cared very well for caregivers in the past two years."

NAHCA's presence at the event caused a buzz both in person and online as attendees and speakers lit up social media. Following are some tweets recognizing NAHCA, Lori Porter, and CNAs amid the many discussions about staffing:

• Mike Wasserman @wassdoc: @CMSGov ⁦@BrooksLaSureCMS @LoriPorterNAHCA MUST be “in the room” as you develop staffing solutions for ⁦@POTUS CNAs are the heart & soul of nursing homes! #PALTC22 ⁦@AMDApaltc ⁦@CALTCM @AARPpolicy @ConsumerVoices

• Arif Nazir @Arif_Nazir_MD: #PALTC2022 Medical directors and CNAs complete each other and together lay foundation of best person centered care! @LoriPorterNAHCA @AMDApaltc @shcmedpartners @Caring4theAges

• Mike Wasserman @wassdoc: This is gold! Nurse:CNA communication & collaboration is critical. Medical Directors can support this! #PALTC22 ⁦@AMDApaltc⁩ ⁦@CALTCM⁩ CNAs are critical members of the nursing home profession. They are professionals!

• SHC Medical Partners @shcmedpartners: Oh these words from amazing Lori Porter - “run the nursing home like a CNA”. What an uplifting but reality check session happening right now in Baltimore @AMDApaltc Kudos to @LoriPorterNAHCA and @Arif_Nazir_MD #PALTC22 @LTCrevolution

The biggest challenge to CNAs’ jobs is the impact of the current staffing shortage, according to the results of a survey we conducted in February and March of this year.

We asked CNAs to give us their feedback on their work right now and how they are feeling about it. What followed was an incredible response from nearly 650 CNAs across the country!

In addition to citing the staffing shortage itself as their biggest challenge, CNAs also have the following challenges:

• Nearly 84 percent of respondents said it would take better wages and benefits to be hired back by their nursing homes, while just under half said that better training/opportunities for career advancement would lure them back.

• Poor wages and benefits were cited as the primary reasons why CNAs have left, or are considering leaving, their jobs.

• Burnout/exhaustion and lack of respect from leadership are the second and third biggest challenges, respectively, for CNAs.

The hundreds of comments submitted by respondents illustrate the extent to which CNAs are frustrated and exhausted:

• “Unappreciated, overworked, exhausted. Company allowing residents … to cuss, hit, throw things at staff and nothing done about it.”

• “I left my job because the 12–hour shift was too much for me. I had 14 to 16 [residents] per night with showers and baths and [taking blood pressures] twice per shift, especially at 10:00 p.m. and again at 4:00 a.m. I spent more time waking my patients up all night. It was miserable."

• “I feel burnt out, not appreciated from leadership. I feel like the nurses are not the only ones on the frontline—we are too. But we always get overlooked when we know the patients better than the nurses do.”

CNAs: Join us for a new webinar with NAHCA Board Chair Sherry Perry on March 30 at 3:00 p.m. Central/4:00 p.m. Eastern.

The goal of this event is to help CNAs recognize these challenges and learn how to overcome them. And by doing so, help them avoid burnout and have a better work-life balance so CNAs can continue to do what they do best; to help provide the care so many sick, frail elders need.

The CNA Board of Directors and a panel of senior living thought leaders came together on March 2, 2022, to discuss and examine the CNA staffing crisis in America.

More than 120 attendees heard from CNAs about their experiences working during the pandemic, how the crisis is affecting them, and what some are doing about it.

An impressive panel encompassing long-term care research, operations, and clinical care discussed their experiences and knowledge about how the pandemic has affected the field. All panelists agreed that CNAs deserve praise, benefits, and better pay for the work they do day in and day out in senior living.

Together, the event faculty offered practical solutions that providers can implement now to not only improve staffing but also restore trust between CNAs and those who manage them.

Thank you to the following companies for their generous support of the CNA Staffing Summit!

Skilled Nursing News: ‘Price Gouging’ Leads More Nursing Homes to Launch In-House Staffing Agencies

Lori Porter, CEO of the National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA), said operator-grown staffing agencies and float pools need to be cognizant of travel logistics and staff demographics. “We know the demographic of CNAs is primarily women, primarily single mothers, primarily poor, not a good working car, maybe not good childcare … that travel distance, they may or may not be able to do that,” Porter said.

NAHCA began working with Dartmouth College in January of this year to implement a major study aimed at reducing high rates of vaccine hesitancy among workers in skilled nursing facilities and other long-term care settings for older adults and other vulnerable populations.

The study is funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).

Together with a team of researchers at Dartmouth, NAHCA is working to recruit 1,800 direct care staff nationwide to compare two different active approaches to each other and the usual efforts happening now.