How Satisfied Is The Nursing Home Workforce That Cares For This Nation’s Elderly?

WAUSAU, Wis., July 2007— A majority of nursing home employees are satisfied with their jobs and rate their overall satisfaction as “excellent” or “good,” says a report released today by Wisconsin-based applied research company My InnerView Inc. The data come from the 2006 National Survey of Nursing Home Workforce Satisfaction, the country’s first national report of its kind.

According to the report, 61 percent of nursing home employees rate their overall satisfaction as “excellent” or “good” and 63 percent would recommend their nursing facility as an “excellent” or “good” place to work. Direct-care nurses and nursing assistants have the lowest total satisfaction scores, while managers and nurses in administration have the highest scores.

“What we found is that overall satisfaction is higher than we expected,” said Neil Gulsvig, chief executive officer, My InnerView. “At the same time, this groundbreaking study has uncovered an age cliff that if left unaddressed, could have an adverse effect on the quality of services delivered by the nation’s nursing homes.”

The report puts a sharp focus on the looming exodus of the most experienced caregivers. The report shows a sizeable proportion of workers are older, particularly nursing staff, and that this proportion increases with job tenure. Within the category of nurses and nursing assistants with the most years of service, 50 percent are age 50 or older.

“It will become imperative that providers, stakeholders and elected officials become observant of the looming workforce shortage and address these factors in order for the profession to continue to deliver quality patient care throughout the future,” said My InnerView senior researcher Mauro Hernandez. “Results suggest that providing better support with job stress and burnout, and adopting more caring and attentive management practices show the most promise for improving national job satisfaction for both nursing assistants and nurses.”

The report is based on the largest dataset of employee satisfaction in nursing facilities ever assembled in the United States. Surveys were completed by 106,858 employees in 1,933 nursing facilities in all states (except Alaska) and the District of Columbia. For a copy of this year’s national report, visit www.myinnerview.com or call (715) 848-2713.