Caregiver jobs in a lot of our country’s nursing homes are very low paying. Turnover is high.
A long time ago, I was told by someone I know who was a nursing home administrator that when choosing a place, it is important to find out if the caregivers there are agency or direct employees of the facility. The answer you want to hear is that those who provide the day-to-day personal care are a part of the directly employed staff and that turnover is low.
If I were asking questions now, I would want to know if benefits are provided to employees at all levels, not just the top paid. That would be an excellent way to attract and keep good employees.
You might find that the therapy department is outsourced — PT, OT, Speech, etc. — and that can work just fine as long as the company used has a longstanding relationship with the facility and the same therapists are in the same place, long term.
I know a caregiver who really wanted to work in a nursing home. She was willing to drive past many of them in the city, about 15 extra miles, one-way, to get to a place where she was better paid and treated as a valuable part of the staff. Additionally and importantly, it is a place where the patient ratio is not insane, allowing her to do the job she wants to do — and to do it well. She is a kind soul who is allowed to blossom with the right employer.
Then there are the for-proft, non-profit worlds to navigate. Also, some nursing homes are strictly private-pay. Some are mostly Medicaid paid. There are also those where residents start as private pay, but do not get kicked out when the money runs out.
A continuum of care is where you can go to a private residence first, but as more care is needed, more care is available. Those tend to be the most expensive.
My point is that in all too many nursing homes, the frontline employees are too often underpaid and under appreciated. Attracting good employees and keeping them should be of top importance. At the cost that nursing homes charge — where does all that money go. (rhetorical question)
Medicare.gov has a section reporting on nursing homes, “Nursing Home Compare.” If you start looking at that, you might learn more than you ever wanted to know.
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