2024 Oregon Long Term Care State Report www.ohca.com 14 Staffing Requirements Oregon has some of the most stringent regulatory requirements around long term care staffing in the nation. These requirements support our commitment to high quality care, but also drive the overall cost of care since labor represents the vast majority of costs to a long term care facility. Nursing Facility Staffing Requirements Both federal and state law regulates staffing standards in Oregon’s nursing facilities. Under current federal regulations, nursing facilities must have “sufficient nursing staff with the appropriate competencies and skill sets” to provide the required resident care and services. Nursing facilities are also required to have a registered nurse (RN) for “at least eight consecutive hours a day, seven days a week” and a RN must be designated to serve as the Director of Nursing on a full time basis. Oregon is one of a handful of states that also has state-mandated staffing ratios for nursing facilities. Oregon separately requires a RN care manager who is responsible for managing the nursing care of their assigned residents. Among other tasks, the RN care manager coordinates the nursing functions and tasks for their assigned residents and other health care providers and is responsible for verifying a resident’s care plan has been developed and documented. There are also minimum licensed nurse staffing requirements including the requirement to have a licensed charge nurse on each shift 24 hours per day with a RN serving as the licensed charge nurse for no less than eight consecutive hours between the start of the day shift and the end of evening shift, seven days a week. Furthermore, Oregon outlines the following minimum certified nursing assistant to resident ratios: • Day Shift: one nursing assistant per seven residents • Evening Shift: one nursing assistant per 9.5 residents • Night Shift: one nursing assistant per 17 residents Additionally, in April 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a new rule governing minimum staffing requirements in nursing facilities. The staffing mandate: • Requires a minimum standard of 3.48 total nursing staff hours per resident day (HPRD), including 0.55 hours to be delivered by registered nurses (RNs) and 2.45 hours by nurse aides (CNAs). The remaining 0.48 hours may be filled by any combination of nurse aides, RNs, and licensed practical or vocational nurses (LPN/LVNs).
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Nzc3ODM=