Nursing Home Reform Passes in Illinois

Nursing Home Reform Passes in Illinois

Lawmakers pass nursing home reform, bill moves to Governor's desk to be signed into law

Rico and Stermer, 5-7-2010

SPRINGFIELD— Nursing home workers in SEIU Healthcare Illinois have cause for celebration today with the passage of Senate Bill 326. The passage of the bill moves nursing homes one step closer to ensuring quality care for residents and better working conditions by raising staffing levels in facilities.

Grace Livington, a CNA from Chicago, was just one of hundreds of front-line caregivers who lobbied in Springfield for nursing home reform.

"When nursing homes are short staffed, patients don't get the quality care they deserve, and caregivers get burned out very quickly." said Livingston.

Livingtson said that when her shift is short staffed, patients go without the care they need. "Somtimes I'm the only CNA on the floor, and I have to bathe, feed, toilet, and provide general care to 16 people on my own. I find residents lying in their own waste because there's not enough staff to take care of them."

Situations like the one Livingston describes are all too common in Illinois nursing homes, where staffing and pay scales have not been geared toward ensuring quality care and investing in front-line caregivers.

Grace Livingston

CNA

Somtimes I'm the only CNA on the floor, and I have to bathe, feed, toilet, and provide general care to 16 people on my own. My residents deserve better-- it breaks my heart to see them not get the quality care they deserve. This law will make my resident's lives safer and happier.

"Nursing home workers get burned out because of the lack of resources owners and administrators make available to provide quality care to residents," explained Francine Rico, another nursing home caregiver, "and that leads to high turnover rates. It's not sustainable-- you can't ask people to work in these conditions without a living wage."

Still, Grace Livingston was happy about the increased staffing levels required in Senate Bill 326, and saw it as a step forward in reforming an industry in desperate need of reform.

"My residents deserve better-- it breaks my heart to see them not get the quality care they deserve," said Livingston. "This law will make my resident's lives safer and happier."